Hardback: Since the comings and goings at 44 Scotland Street first appeared in daily episodes in the pages of The Scotsman newspaper in 2004, the inhabitants of the Edinburgh New Town house have become familiar to Alexander McCall Smith's army of fans. The first serial novel, 44 Scotland Street, was collected in book form and became an instant hit both in the UK and the United States, where it appeared in the Top Ten of a number of bestseller lists across the country.
"This book and the four volumes that followed it represent a revival of an old-fashioned literary form that had more or less died out in the twentieth century: the serial novel," wrote McCall Smith in the Preface.
The Unbearable Lightness of Scones (2008) is the fifth in the bestselling 44 Scotland Street series.
Here we find Bertie, the precocious six-year-old, still troubled by his rather overbearing mother, Irene, but finding escape in the Cub Scouts. Matthew is rising to the challenge of married life with newfound strength and resolve, while Domenica epitomises the loneliness of the long-distance intellectual.
Narcissistic Bruce is wrestling with a big lifestyle decision, and Angus Lordie, portrait painter and pet owner, grapples with unexpected canine problems. And, finally, Angus's dog, Cyril, the gold-toothed star of the whole show, succumbs to the kind of temptation that no dog can resist.
They say never to work with children or animals but Alexander McCall Smith is undaunted. With his unique mastery, he brings us an absorbing and entertaining tale of real people - all set in the beautiful, entrancing city of Edinburgh.
About the author: Alexander McCall Smith is one of the world’s most prolific and most popular authors. His career has been a varied one: for many years he was a professor of Medical Law and worked in universities in the United Kingdom and abroad. Then, after the publication of his highly successful No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, which has sold over twenty million copies, he devoted his time to the writing of fiction and has seen his various series of books translated into over forty languages and become bestsellers through the world.
The series include the Scotland Street novels, first published as a serial novel in The Scotsman, the Sunday Philosophy Club series starring Isabel Dalhousie, the von Igelfeld series, and the new Corduroy Mansions novels.
Alexander is also the author of collections of short stories, academic works, and over thirty books for children. He has received numerous awards for his writing, including the British Book Awards Author of the Year Award in 2004 and a CBE for service to literature in 2007. He holds honorary doctorates from nine universities in Europe and North America. Alexander McCall Smith lives in Edinburgh. He is married to a doctor and has two daughters. Both he and his wife are members of an amateur orchestra, the Really Terrible Orchestra, in which he plays the contra-bassoon.
Rating: 5/5
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