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The Unbearable Lightness of Scones (44 Scotland Street) by Alexander McCall Smith (view source)
Revision as of 16:10, 29 August 2020
, 16:10, 29 August 2020no edit summary
{{infoboxsort infobox1
|title=The Unbearable Lightness of Scones (44 Scotland Street)
|author=Alexander McCall Smith
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Yes
|pages=336
|publisher= Abacus
|date=May 2009
|isbn=978-0349121147
|sort= Unbearable Lightness of Scones
|website=http://www.alexandermccallsmith.co.uk/
|cover=0349121141
|aznuk=0349121141
|aznus=0307454703
}}
However, if you are one of the 'McCall Smith Faithful' then along with your fellow – and I might add, legion – loyal fans, you have no doubt already bought the hardback which was out last year and completely loved the story and will not need to read any further, either!
I am not sure how we have found ourselves leaping from the final resting point in Volume 4 to where we pick up the much-loved cast in Volume 5. Whilst Matthew and Elspeth have actually found the gumption from within their mimsy, wavering selves to get married, Bertie appears to be on hold – he remains just six years old! And though Bruce appears to be aging ageing and running the gamut of emotions on the subject, Angus Lordie is quite unable to drop his (or the author's?) continuing rant about the Turner Prize, its apparent lack of artistry and his own apparent lack of winning it. Now, since the prior ''44 Scotland Street'' offerings gave us endless ideas to muse upon, I am disappointed to note that it seems ''The Unbearable Lightness Of Scones'' has something missing, though quite what it is remains a mystery to me. See, I told you that you would be confused!
The delightful little bitesize chapters were completely self-contained, which made it a brilliant pick-up-and-put-down kind of book, but the subjects within leapt about so jarringly, I found myself wondering what was going on for the first two paragraphs of each chapter. From a personal standpoint, I don't find that to be an endearing quality in a novel, '''at all'''. I can't give you a clearer view of what was going on… I don't have one!
Fans of [[:Category:Alexander McCall Smith|McCall Smith]] will almost certainly have read the[[The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith|The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency]] books, but [[La's Orchestra Saves the World by Alexander McCall Smith|La's Orchestra Saves the World]] is slightly less well-known and bears reading. For a similar series (which does work as a stand-alone) in an American setting we can recommend [[Summer on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber]]. If you're looking at this review because of your enjoyment of the ''No 1 Ladies Detective Agency'' novels then we think you might also enjoy [[A Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Nicholas Drayson]].
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