44 Scotland Street (44 Scotland Street Series, Book 1)

44 SCOTLAND STREET - Book 1

The residents and neighbors of 44 Scotland Street and the city of Edinburgh come to vivid life in these gently satirical, wonderfully perceptive serial novels, featuring six-year-old Bertie, a remarkably precocious boy—just ask his mother.  

Welcome to 44 Scotland Street, home to some of Edinburgh's most colorful characters. There's Pat, a twenty-year-old who has recently moved into a flat with Bruce, an athletic young man with a keen awareness of his own appearance. Their neighbor, Domenica, is an eccentric and insightful widow. In the flat below are Irene and her appealing son Bertie, who is the victim of his mother’s desire for him to learn the saxophone and italian–all at the tender age of five.

Love triangles, a lost painting, intriguing new friends, and an encounter with a famous Scottish crime writer are just a few of the ingredients that add to this delightful and witty portrait of Edinburgh society, which was first published as a serial in The Scotsman newspaper.

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325 pages

Average rating: 6.56

9 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

WritesinLA
Oct 31, 2024
8/10 stars
I love McCall Smith's gentle humor and wry observations about human nature. His books are light reads, but sometimes, that's just the ticket for reading entertainment. The characters are finely drawn, including the narcissistic Bruce, intelligent yet confused about her options Pat, wise Domenica, and scene-stealing Bertie, the 6-year-old who just wants to be a regular boy but whose feminist mother forces him to endure yoga, psychotherapy, wear pink trousers and otherwise make him her gender-neutral sociology project.

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