The well-known prolific Scottish author of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, in discussion with a newsman bemoaned the demise of the novel serialized in a newspaper, then accepted the challenge to resurrect it. The result is this story chopped into 110 short chapters. Readers might anticipate contradictions and inconsistencies since he claimed that he made up the details not far in advance, but this flows beautifully. I have yet to read any of the 14 newer books in this series and I am not sure if any of them were serialized in newsprint. Everyone except me seemed to be well acquainted with this author. This one was selected for an upcoming book club discussion.
The story, set in Edinburgh in modern times, features a diverse cast of hilarious characters, all vividly described. Comical mishaps and personality clashes reminded me of the dry humour of Terry Phallus especially in his The Best Laid Plans, but is more exaggerated and lacking the thick Scottish brogue. The preternatural five year old Ashbergeresque saxophone player and his overbearing, pushy, opinionated mother are barely realistic, but nevertheless very funny. Some of the characterizations border on caricatures. The subtle but witty lampooning of Freudian psychoanalysis and the world of snobbish wine connoisseurs makes for delightful reading.
One quote will relay the flavour of the writing. On a first date that is obviously not going well: “After a small amount of rather stiff conversation, Chris looked at his watch and remembered another commitment, just seconds before Pat had been planning to recover from a similar lapse in memory.”
It is easy to keep track of the characters which include an indecisive art store owner with what seems to be attention deficit disorder, a narcissistic playboy, a beer swilling winking collie owned by an eccentric portrait artist, a lost young woman flitting between jobs, and a philosophical older widow quoting Proust, Descartes and Kant and musing about the problem of free will. There is nothing here that should not be read by a ten year old.
This is just the perfect light story for anyone becoming bored and depressed during Covid-19 lockdown.
Thanks, Barb.
The Passionate Reader 