Sunshine on Scotland Street: A 44 Scotland Street Novel (8)
*Starred Review* In his Scotland Street series, now in its eighth installment, McCall Smith follows a core group of people, all of whom once lived in or very near the same Edinburgh apartment house (44 Scotland Street). We watch as they do things everyone does, like fix dinner, quarrel, match wits, and fall in love, but also as they do things only people in Edinburgh can, like shop at the farmers market held on Saturdays beneath the volcanic crag of Edinburgh Castle. And McCall Smith does something else here, even beyond what he does in his popular No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. He gives us each of his characters’ points of view, moving deftly from one to the other. So, for example, we often get the point of view of six-year-old Bertie, oppressed son of Irene, who sees her son as a project. Bertie yearns to be 18 and move to Glasgow, forever away from Irene. We also tap into Irene’s brain, her harassed husband’s, and some of Bertie’s classmates, along with Bruce the narcissist, Angus the portrait painter, and Angus’ beloved dog, Cyril. McCall Smith does this very deftly, advancing the action (this latest has a wedding, a doppelgänger, and the continuing adventures of Matthew and Elspeth and the triplet infants) as we learn exactly what characters are thinking of each other and themselves. Humor and insight abound. --Connie Fletcher