1. Premise 8
2. Prose 9
3. Plot 7
4. Characters 9
5. Overall 8
Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)
As always with this author, a very satisfying read, despite the low-key levels of action, suspense, drama, and almost everything else people normally look for in an entertaining read. It’s hard to point to exactly what the elements are that make McCall Smith’s writing so absorbing. The plot is an almost soap-opera mishmash of parallel story lines having very little to do with one another, revolving around almost nothing more than a common sense of place – 44 Scotland Street in modern-day Edinburgh, Scotland, near the Castle. Characters overlap a little as the separate strands alternate, but not in any essential way. So why does it work so amazingly well?! This is great writing; that’s my only clue. The warmth, the humanity, the social commentary all flow generously throughout the book, and there are especially poignant moments toward the end. I will continue to read this man’s books on a regular basis – two or three a year? – until I have read them all. Love his work.
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