I finally did the right thing and dug up the first book of this series ( by dug up I just mean putting in an online reservation on the library’s website) and finished it to realign my understanding of the people living in 44 Scotland Street. The future books do not feed us the past like most other series and if you intend to pursue the lives of these people it needs to be done in the right order.
I mentioned in my previous blog (Bertie’s Guide to Life and Mothers (44 Scotland Street, #9) by Alexander McCall Smith ) that I felt each chapter very individualistic and I have finally discovered why. This book is a serialised story published regularly in a newspaper like the old Sherlock Holmes or Charles Dickens.
We are introduced to life at the 44 Scotland street and other people in town by association. Bruce the narcissist and his bosses , Pat the girl on her second gap-year and by association her boss the proprietor of a Gallery and then by association big Lou, Domenica the sort- of hippy and by association Agnus and his gold toothed dog and last but not the least Bertie and his mother. The last are a major focus of the study of human nature and you definitely want to shake Irene( the mother) for all of her actions and most of her thoughts.
The humour is laced with sobering reality which is a very unique combination which works.
Other book from he series reviewed:
Sunshine on Scotland Street (44 Scotland Street, #8) – McCall Smith, Alexander
Unique non-Scottish words that I came across:( do not judge me on a few of them, I just felt like they stood out)
- Recondite: little known; abstruse.
- Cupola: a rounded dome forming or adorning a roof or ceiling.
- Insouciance: casual lack of concern; indifference
- Sporran ( this one is not exactly non-Scottish): A pouch worn with a kilt
- Coeval: a person of roughly the same age as oneself; a contemporary
- Comity:courtesy and considerate behaviour towards others
Superfluous Reading 
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