| 44 Scotland Street (Unabridged) | 
 enlarge | Author: Alexander Mccall Smith
Publisher: audible.com
Category: Book
List Price: $34.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  64 reviews
Media: Audio Download
ASIN: B0009YT40Y
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Product Description
Bestselling author Alexander McCall Smith brings all the warmth of his extraordinary No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency books and the Sunday Philosophy Club series to this witty novel chronicling the lives of the residents of 44 Scotland Street in Edinburgh. Originally serialized in The Scotsman, 44 Scotland Street is already an international sensation.
When twenty-year-old Pat rents a room from handsome and cocky Bruce, she inherits some delightfully colourful neighbours: Domenica, an insightful and eccentric widow; Bertie, a five-year-old who’s mastered both saxophone and Italian; and Irene, his overbearing mother. Pat’s new job at a gallery seems easy enough. Her boss spends most of his time drinking coffee in a local cafe and discussing matters great and small, and Pat’s duties are light. That is until she realizes that one of their paintings may be an undiscovered work of a renowned Scottish artist and she discovers that one of their customers may be in on the secret. Add to this a fancy ball, love triangles and an encounter with a famous crime writer, and you have Alexander McCall Smith’s entertaining and witty portrait of Edinburgh society.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 59 more reviews...
 Loved this book -- Isabel Dalhousie, begone! September 13, 2008
I'm not really sure why I even picked this book up (or the other books in the series, all of which are just as fun as this one). I couldn't get interested in the #1 Ladies Detective Agency series, and I loathed Isabel Dalhousie, the smug, boring heroine of the Sunday Philosophy Club "mysteries".
But this book is really a delight. The pacing of 44 Scotland Street is very deft and the characters are an interesting mix. I enjoyed reading about each one of them, the good and the bad, the weak and the strong.
*EDINBURGH has an indelible place in my Heart . . .* June 24, 2008
7 out of 18 found this review helpful
In this series by Alexander McCall Smith, there is not as much philosophy as plain unadulterated (tho' calculated) fun. Because "44" runs as a newspaper serial, it must be served up in daily doses that carry one over to the next day's episode. In its book form readers may gallop ahead to the next hurdle (champing at the bit, to continue in a horsy vein).
You will find your outlook of Edinburgh, the city and soul, broadened: A memorable top floor flat is shared by newcomer Pat and two absentee tenants & the wildly narcissistic Bruce. The occupants of other flats in the building also play important roles, as do a few real live citizens of the city. Pat is a college student "on sabbatical" or "gap year". An interesting part of the package is Pat's psychiatrist father who doles out great advice ~ from another part of town.
Each character seems to be weighted with extremes of personality & that is where the fun lies for me. "What a hoot" my Edinburgh friends would say, although they may not need to turn to McCall Smith's books to provide them with droll characters, ironic turns of phrase, poetic quotations, etc. They doubtless have a good supply of their own "indelible" moments.
"Pulling the legs" of many readers, the author had a good time with a story about investigating a tunnel under 44 Scotland Street. His wonderful multi-dimensional character, Domenica, leads a few friends & comes to a place where the group listens to a dinner discussion just above their heads. Voices of well-known (Edinburghers*) Establishment figures are recognized & sly remarks made for the reader to cogitate upon. (actually, only in Indiana would citizens of an "Edinburg/h" be called that).
The book naturally leaves readers 'hanging' in the fashion of serials. Very happily there are already three more volumes to help satisfy our curiosity & hunger for further escapades involving these strangers who now occupy a secure place in the labyrinths of memory. Lovely, storied Edinburgh, its "angled streets" pull at our heartstrings.
Illustrations by Iain McIntosh as mentioned in the author's Preface, are
clever, humorous and total perfection: I yearn for a door-knocker of his design; ditto, kitchen faucets!
I will try to add an IMAGE of the Iain McIntosh website above . . . Edinburgh, Friendship, and "tears of rain" . . . memories old & new, for all that I express grateful thanks to Alexander McCall Smith, my favorite 'long-distance runner'.
*commentary-with-a-small-c* by mchaiku
RAINY DAY SUNSHINE June 16, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is one of those books that is perfect for when you're feeling blue. Easy to read, completely entertaining and fun. I enjoy these "tidbit" books (as I call them) so very much. I am going to miss the residents of 44 Scotland Street quite a lot.
This may be light reading, but it is not mindless. McCall Smith always delivers great prose, poignant moments and a picturesque snapshot of Scotland, its people, and their ways. Highly recommend it for McCall Smith junkies and anyone who wants to enjoy a quick and uplifting read.
Probably best appreciated by those who live or have been to Edinburgh... June 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A very good friend of mine gave me a copy of 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith for my birthday this year. As the story is set in Edinburgh Scotland, I figured it was only appropriate that I should read it while I was visiting over there. I'll be the first to admit that this book will have its widest appeal to those who have been to Edinburgh or live there. Because I was surrounded by Edinburgh culture as I read, I found it great fun and a very enjoyable read.
The story takes place in a building located at, appropriately enough, 44 Scotland Street. There are a number of rather quirky characters that live in those flats, and you follow them around as their lives intersect in various ways, shapes, and forms. Pat is one of the main characters, and she rents one of the rooms as a place to stay during a second gap year between her secondary schooling and university. Bruce, her flatmate, is an egocentric man about town who thinks that all women swoon as he passes by. Below them live Bertie, the five year old "prodigy" who is pushed hard by his mother Irene to accomplish great things very early in life. All Bertie wants to do is be a normal kid. And finally, there's Domenica, an older lady who seems to know everyone, has a mysterious past, and offers up sage advice whether asked for or not. While only Pat and Bruce are in the same flat, everyone is influenced by each other. Along the way, Pat gets a job at an art gallery run by a guy who knows nothing about art. A potentially valuable painting is "stolen" by Bruce inadvertently and it has to be tracked down through a number of buyers. Bertie's fascinated by trains, and has been kicked out of preschool for writing Italian graffiti on the bathroom stall wall. His mother blames the teacher for not paying enough attention to her special child, and she decides to take Bertie to therapy to get him over this "rough patch." However, in reality she's in love with the therapist and is totally out of touch with reality vs. psychological "theory." Domenica is trying to help Pat through her infatuation with Bruce, knowing that Bruce will end up hurting her in the end. And through it all, you get a dose of Edinburgh culture, attitudes, and history...
The story is unique in that it was first published as a serial novel in the daily newspaper The Scotsman. Smith began with a fair amount of material stored up to get started, but by the end he was only two or three days ahead of the next episode. As a result, people were able to contact him and influence the flow of the story. Americans would probably liken this book to the TV series Seinfeld, a comedy show about "nothing." There's no plot to figure out, no crime to solve, and no lives to save here. It's really just a slice of life where we watch some very real characters go about their daily existence trying to make sense of it all. I'm far from knowledgeable enough to say whether Smith's view of Edinburgh is spot on for how the city thinks and functions. But I can say that reading 44 Scotland Street while I was actually "on location" made it seem very real and entertaining. Enough so that I plan on checking to see if our local library here in the states has the follow-on installments of the series...
NOT the Ladies' Detective Agency books, thank goodness!! May 29, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have read all but the last two of the Ladies' Detective Agency books, although upon reflection, I don't know why. They're very predictable, and the character development in them is disappointing.
Not so with the Scotland Street books (3 and counting), which offer vignettes allowing us entree to the charming, lively, pleasant and absorbing lives of Pat, Bruce, Matthew, Big Lou, Irene, Stuart and the precocious Bertie, Angus Lordie, Cyril, and the unique Domenica (whose pronouncements I suspect make her Mr. McCall Smith's alter-ego!). Very pleasurable reading, and you will be eager to keep reading, so here's hoping the prolific AMS is visited by his muse often and profitably.
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