A Time of Love and Tartan
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
Catch up with the delightful goings-on in the fictitious 44 Scotland Street from Alexander McCall Smith . . .
'A joyous, charming portrait of city life and human foibles, which moves beyond its setting to deal with deep moral issues and love, desire and friendship' Sunday Express
If only Pat Macgregor had an inkling of the embarrassment romantic, professional, even aesthetic that flowed from accepting narcissistic ex-boyfriend Bruce Anderson's invitation for coffee, she would never have said yes. And if only Matthew, her boss at the art gallery, hadn't wandered into his local bookshop and picked up a particular book at a particular time, he would never have knocked over his former English teacher or attracted the attentions of the police.
Whether caused by small things such as a cup of coffee and a book, or major events such as Stuart's application for promotion and his wife Irene's decision to go off and study for a PhD in Aberdeen, change is coming to serial fiction's favourite street. But for three seven-year-old boys Bertie Pollock, Ranald Braveheart Macpherson, and Big Lou's foster son Finlay - it also means a getting a glimpse of perfect happiness.
Alexander McCall Smith's delightfully witty, wise and sometimes surreal comedy spirals out to include tennis-playing Rwandan Forest People, researches into levitating Celtic saints, bogus headhunters in Papua New Guinea and primary school performances of Beckett. But its heart remains where it has always been true to life, love and laughter in Edinburgh's New Town.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Smith's spirited 12th 44 Scotland Street novel (after 2017's The Bertie Project) sees the residents of Edinburgh's Scotland Street and their associates grapple with domestic problems great and small. Anthropologist Domenica Macdonald wonders about the viability of her marriage to artist Angus Lordie while preparing for a visit from Rwandan pygmies; government statistician Stuart Pollock faces intense competition for a promotion and a difficult wife with other priorities in Aberdeen; art gallery assistant Pat Macgregor finds it hard to shake an egotistical ex-boyfriend who has plans for her; and gallery owner Matthew Duncan deals with the fallout of an uncomfortable encounter with his former English teacher and the demands of his two-year-old triplets. Meanwhile, Stuart's seven-year-old son, Bertie, makes a significant discovery in Drummond Place Gardens and contends with his know-it-all classmate, Olive. Despite the lack of any mystery, fans of Smith's No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series will enjoy the stimulating and often comic company of Scotland Street's inviting neighbors.