Bertie, the precocious six-year-old, has managed to escape the clutches of his controlling mother for a couple of glorious days in Paris; Angus Lordie, dishevelled portrait painter, has become separated from his two dearest friends – Cyril the dog, who is lost, and Domenica MacDonald, who has set off for the Malacca Straits in search of pirates. She finds them, but they are not quite what she expected.We are back in Edinburgh, among the friends who gather around 44, Scotland Street, in one of Alexander McCall Smith’s delightful series of novels. These stories began as episodes in a newspaper, now collected in a series of books that McCall Smith fans all over the world can enjoy.How familiar these characters become, and how easily the reader slips back into their interesting and quirky lives. The city of Edinburgh is the perfect setting for these odd folk, itself a character with its own fascinating ways. McCall Smith brings it to life, as he does the people that throng its streets.Bertie Pollock is only six, but he has a very high intellect, an astonishing array of talents (including playing the saxophone) and two very odd par5ents. Irene is determined to succeed at the ‘Bertie Project’ as she calls raising a child genius, while hapless Stuart just wishes he could play football with his son. So does Bertie, who desperately wants to be a real boy, but his ineffectual dad lets Irene steamroller over both of them. However, it is her ambition for Bertie that inadvertently gives Bertie what he wants most – time away from her.Poor Angus is bereft when his beloved dog Cyril disappear, and his best friend Domenica goes off on an adventure, leaving him at the mercy of the terrifying woman who has moved into Domenica’s flat. This is Antonia Collie, and he soon goes off her4 – in a big way. Meanwhile, pretty student Pat has fallen for a guy named Wolf, and Matthew, the owner of the art gallery where she works part-time, has fallen in love with her. Big LOnce you have met these people, got to know them, and wandered around Edinburgh with them, they get under your skin. The wait for the next book seems very long indeed. Will Bertie ever overcome his insufferable mother? Will he ever have a seventh birthday? These, and many other enchanting questions, may be answered some day. But not too soon, Mr. McCall Smith, because that might mean we get to hear no more of Scotland Street.
Wow! After reading all the other reviews, almost all 5 star for this book, I better tread lightly! I guess I better begin by stating that my family thoroughly enjoyed listening to No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series on tape and I was ready to love another McCall Smith read. That said, I found Love Over Scotland very easy reading, great for light, mindless, relaxing reading- and the chapters are really short making it possible to read a snatch here and there and come to a good stopping point every time.However, some of the characters were most unbelievable. Come on, Bertie?? A six year old doing and saying and thinking all that he does? I understand precocious but this is absurd. A six year old traveling about Paris on his own and discussing philosophy with students from Sorbonne? It was disturbing to imagine him as a six year old.Domenica traveling off to Malacca to live among pirates as an anthropologist and getting on just splendidly; it sounds entertaining and exciting but she was a bore.The boring people, Matthew, Pat, Big Lou were, as characters, much more exciting for the believability factor.I think McCall Smith has a following who will continue to read his books no matter, and he should be very thankful.
What do You think about Love Over Scotland (2015)?
As an avid AMS fan, I have to say that I was a little disappointed with this book. I have loved all his novels I've read to date but for some reason this one just didn't get going for me. I love Edinburgh and so the location of the setting appealed to me, but I just didn't really warm to any of the characters (other than Bertie but I didn't think we saw enough of him). I found the Dominica storyline in the Malacca Straits a little far fetched. The reintroduction of Lard O'Connor could have been interesting but was down played, and Irene was infuriating (although I think that's intentional). I think the very short chapters also didn't help me, I just couldn't get into the story at all. It's taken me all month to read it! I have 2 more from this Scotland Street series on my bookshelves and I'm hoping they're a bit better.
—Heather
I was very disappointed in this one. At the end of Espresso Tales, Bertie's wimpy father finally atarted standing up for Bertie,and I thought he was going to get liberated from his stupid mother, and be able to give up the silly pi k dungarees, doing yoga etc. But instead, it is as if the events of the last book never happened, and Bertie is as much trapped by his mother as before. And his father has dwindled into being practically non-existent.There are somd funny bits, especially Domenica's adventures with the pirates, but much of this book is just annoying, and some of it quite bizarre. i mean, why on earth would a teenage orchestea have a six year old member? And how on earth could a class of six year olds perform The Sound of Music, when the average six year old can just about remember the words to 'Bob the Builder'.I've decided to give up on this series, as I suspect future volumes will be just as annoying. The only really interesting character is Bertie, and I can no longer bear to witness his torment.
—Louise Culmer
I can't help myself. I start one of Smith's novels thinking something like, "Well, this will just be more of the same." Forgetting, of course, how much I enjoyed the last one. Before you know it, I'm laughing out loud and find I have a hard time putting the book down to, say, sleep. His sense of humor is consistent, and Bertie continues to be an absolute kick. Bertie's adventures are both amazingly unbelievable and believable. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but for a kid who has an interest in reading scientific journals, not to mention people like Freud and Jung, he has a knack for carrying on adult conversations with adults. But he also remains very kid-like in his searching for, and trying to figure out, friendship with kids his own age. He can be very bumbling in that respect. The other denizens of 44 Scotland Street, and their close friends, have lives that tend to intertwine in intricate ways as they discover more about others and about themselves. After all, growing up is hard to do, even when you are advanced in years.Each of the books in this series is like the next chapter. You'll definitely want to read them all. Now, which is the next in the series?
—Ken Deshaies
