44 Scotland Street

[Madame]

The first in another series by Alexander McCall Smith, best known for his '#1 Ladies Detective Agency' series, it introduces the reader to an array of interesting and quirky characters who live at this address in Edinburgh. The first is Pat, a 20-year-old woman in her second 'gap year' (she failed in her first) who rents a bedroom in a flat belonging to a self-absorbed surveyor. A family on a lower floor has a 5-year-old son who is being pushed into playing saxophone and learning Italian by his (you-want-to-slap-her) mother who has convinced herself that it was his idea.

The book was actually written as a serialized novel published daily in Edinburgh's The Scotsman, and was so successful it continued on and into the second book in this series. It is wonderfully illustrated by Iain McIntosh whose works pull the reader further into the story(s).



Great (not surprisingly) acclaim from all over:

"Pure joy .... the voice, the setting, the stories, the mysteries of human nature .... Smith's writing is accessible and the prose is beautiful" -- Amy Tan

"Mr. Smith, a fine writer, paints his hometown of Edinburgh as indelibly as he captures the sunniness of Africa. We can almost feel the mists as we tread the cobblestones" -- The Dallas Morning News

"Alexander McCall Smith has become one of those commodities, like oil or chocolate or money, where the supply is never sufficient to the demand ... [He] is prolific and habit-forming" -- The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

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I love the idea of the serialized novel in a newspaper ... I wonder whether it could help revitalize a dying industry.