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    Love Over Scotland
    Love Over Scotland
    Love Over Scotland
    Audiobook14 hours

    Love Over Scotland

    Written by Alexander McCall Smith

    Narrated by Robert Ian Mackenzie

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    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. This just in from Edinburgh: the complicated lives of the denizens of 44 Scotland Street are becoming no simpler. Domenica Macdonald has left for the Malacca Straits to conduct a perilous anthropological study of pirate households. Angus Lordie's dog, Cyril, has been stolen, and is facing an uncertain future wandering the streets. Bertie, the prodigiously talented six-year-old, is still enduring psychotherapy, but his burden is lightened by a junior orchestra's trip to Paris, where he makes some interesting new friends. Back in Edinburgh, there is romance for Pat with a handsome young man called Wolf, until she begins to see the attractions of the more prosaically named Matthew. Teeming with McCall Smith's wonderful wit and charming depictions of Edinburgh, Love Over Scotland is another beautiful ode to a city and its people that continue to fascinate this astounding author.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateNov 26, 2007
    ISBN9781428199347
    Love Over Scotland
    Author

    Alexander McCall Smith

    Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the award-winning series The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency, and he now devotes his time to the writing of fiction, including the 44 Scotland Street and the Isabel Dalhousie series. He is the author of over eighty books on a wide array of subjects, and his work has been translated into forty-six languages. Before becoming a full-time writer he was for many years Professor of Medical Law at Edinburgh.

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    Reviews for Love Over Scotland

    4/5

    24 ratings14 reviews

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    • 5/5
      As usual, it was delightful. I am looking forward to listening to the next book in this series. What a pleasure to find an author that writes books free of offensive language and that have such a gentle quality.
    • 4/5
      The 3 book series was enjoyable for the most part, great style and imaginative plot sequences. Humorous look at life of a very mixed group of characters.
    • 5/5
      Such a fun read. Great character study. I eventually felt the characters were almost like friends of mine.
    • 4/5
      This is possibly the best 44 Scotland Street story yet. Bertie's adventures in Paris were fantastic! I also loved Angus Lordie's poem at the end, which I thought was really beautiful.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this more than I had expected. Smith clearly defines his characters and manages to moralize in a welcome manner. Too many authors seem to have no moral backbone.
    • 4/5
      Wonderful characters doing wonderful things in a facinating way. Love it!
    • 3/5
      This is the third in a series of McCall Smith's Edinburgh-based novels, and although I read the first two in the unfolding series with sufficient pleasure, I think I've had about enough. Certainly the premise - a 21st century newspaper serial - is excellent, and Edinburgh is a beautiful and interesting setting. I still enjoyed reading about the sufferings of poor genius boy Bertie, the victim of an overbearing and controlling mother. And in this installment, Angus Lordie's dog Cyril has an interesting adventure that reveals new depths to his canine character. However, this interesting episode unforunately is cut short much too soon. In "Love Over Scotland," the "twee" factor seems to be greater than in the others, as many of the characters revel in what appears to be a boring and bland provincialism. One of the major "plots" - the one involving the romantic life of a young art student - takes a regrettable turn toward dull predictability. Moreover, the episodes that do involve foreign travel (Domenica's sojourn in the Malacca Straits, and Bertie's orchestra visit to Paris) were just not complelling to me. Finally, McCall Smith's little moralistic bromides that show up every few chapters became quite annoying. McCall has made an enormous success of his "series fictions," and he has continued with his Edinburgh stories, but I don't think I'll be following up on the fourth volume.
    • 3/5
      This is my second novel by Smith, but it is very different from The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. Still it is full of interesting characters who have some connection to 44 Scotland Street in Edinburgh. My favourite is 6 year old Bertie although it seems to me he is given tasks that would be beyond the capabilities of a boy his age. A 6 year old knowing how to busk on the streets of Paris seemed to push the envelope. Still a very entertaining read.
    • 5/5
      This is the third in the 44 Scotland Street series, and I found it the most enjoyable yet.Part of its joy is that I now feel I know most of the characters so well, that they seem like old friends. For this reason I would recommend reading the previous instalments in this series before this one, although I'm sure the book will still be a good read for anyone who has not. In this episode in Edinburgh life Pat starts university, and immediately gets entangled with a somewhat dubious character named Wolf, while Matthew (still holding a torch for her) wonders what to do with his millions. Domenica swans off to study Piratesin the Malacca straits, leaving Angus Lordie pining. He goes onto to experience more than this loss, adding tinges of sadness to the generally relaxed and unthreatening story. His bond with Cyril is touching (even for me, and I am naturally prejudiced against dogs!) and the letter he writes to Domenica and then tears up - to mention its subject would give too much away - is very moving and quite beautiful. Meanwhile Eddie, Big Lou's erstwhile fiancé is up to his old tricks and her friends have to call in Glasgow gangster-type Lard O'Connor to resolve the situation. Bertie continues to quietly rebel against Irene, who has not changed one bit despite Stuart's newfound assertiveness in the last book (in fact Stuart has reverted somewhat to his old ways). She forces him to audition for the Edinburgh Teenage Orchestra, despite his being only 6,which a point of acute embarrassment for him! Bertie is without a doubt the best thing in the book. His adventures with the orchestra (which despite his best efforts he cannot avoid joining) are hilarious. Bertie, without Irene in tow, is a force to be reckoned with and Paris doesn't know what has hit it! The sections written from his POV are delightful as well as funny and I just can't get enough of him. His observations when he speaks to Antonia (A new character introduced in this book - an aspiring historical novelist) near the end are priceless, and as Antonia observes, as interesting anthropologically as anything Domenica has discovered about her pirates.The narrative somehow manages to be both relaxing and exciting at the same time – I wish I knew how he does it. The episodic format - which comes from the story's original serialization in the Scotsman, helps with the pace and does not disrupt the flow of the story at all. There are constant little cliff-hangers at the end of many of the sections which have the effect of keeping you waiting for the next chunk of each character's story, and unable to put the book down. Events in the lives of these characters are not world changing, but they seem very important nonetheless, although there is never any real menace or threat even from Eddie or the aptly named Wolf.If anything, McCall Smith's style most resembles a chatty but brilliantly observed letter relating events in the lives of family members or acquaintances, who are much loved but rarely seen. His characters feel like friends and their story is ongoing, not something that can be resolved neatly as you would expect in the average novel. I am already looking forward to reading the next instalment!
    • 3/5
      These characters become even more interesting as they become more familiar. I just can't wait until Bertie really shows up his mother for the fool she is.
    • 4/5
      The usual blend of quirky characters and good humour continue to make Alexander McCall Smith's books just great fun to read.
    • 4/5
      This was another interesting segment of the 44 Scotland Street series as many of our favorite characters return and we are even introduced to a few new ones. I have always enjoyed Alexander McCall Smith's novels as they are full of delightful elements that never fail to put a smile on my face. The narration of Robert Ian MacKenzie only enhanced my experience that much more.In the last novel it seemed to me that Bertie's father was actually stepping up to his wife to loosen the controlling grip on the young boy. It seemed that she was willing to allow Bertie to enjoy being a young boy for awhile. In this third installment she seemed to forget her change in parenting methods as the stress of being a child prodigy is placed on Bertie's shoulders once again. There are a few surprises with this small family though that I won't reveal as they really had quite a shock factor.Since Pat had to leave Bruce's flat she found a new place to stay with a young gal close to her own age. Things don't go very well with Pat's new living arrangements as there appears to be a mutual attraction between herself and her roommate's boyfriend. Pat finds herself needing to find another place to live before the situation gets out of control and surprisingly Matthew offers her a place to lay her head. All I will say about this is, very interesting indeed!Angus Lordie is dying of loneliness after Domenica leaves to study the lives of pirates. An odd young woman is staying in Domenica's flat while she is away and Angus doesn't seem to take a liking to her at all. Between this new resident of Scotland Street and Cyril's narration within the novel there was not a dull moment to be had.I thoroughly enjoyed this novel as we get to revisit some of our favorite characters from 44 Scotland Street. Smith is such a talented writer and he throws in a few surprises and some romance to keep us turning the pages in this installment. I don't hesitate in recommending this novel or even the series for that matter. I've been listening to these on audiobook but I think they would be just as enjoyable to actually read them.
    • 3/5
      Easy, comfortable read. Highlights - Bertie goes to Paris. Alone. Pat and Mat are an item. This book is part of series - I don't think even if I hadn't read it, I was missing anything in series. Having read it, makes it much better. ;)
    • 5/5
      Fantastic, shame that we didn't follow Bruce to London, but other than that the adventures and misadventures of the residents and ex-residents of 44 Scotland Street are entertaining and engrossing.