Title: 44 Scotland Street
Author: Alexander McCall Smith
Year Published: 2004
Genre: Fiction, Social Commentary
Setting: Edinburgh, Scotland
My Rating: 
(4.5)
44 Scotland Street: An Overview
Pat is on her second gap year, and, hoping to make it more successful than her first, she moves into a flat with Bruce, an arrogant surveyor, and gets a job at the directionless Matthew’s art gallery. In her apartment building, she quickly makes friends with Domenica, her quirky older neighbor, and gets a glimpse into the lives of Irene and her five year old son Bertie, who’s fighting back against her attempts to shape him into a prodigy.
44 Scotland Street follows these characters and several more through their daily lives, troubles, and amusing situations, providing a cozy escape for any reader.
My Thoughts
A few months ago, I read one of McCall Smith’s other books, The Perfect Passion Company. I enjoyed it overall, and as I headed into 44 Scotland Street, I knew what to expect from McCall Smith’s voice and humor. However, I was impressed and ultimately liked this collection even more.
44 Scotland Street was originally run as a serialized novel in The Scotsman. Off the bat, this had me intrigued. My previous experience with serialized novels was the more Dickens-esque type–which is to say, heavy, long, and sometimes difficult to sit through. 44 Scotland Street was quite the opposite. Each chapter was about 2-3 pages, and it was incredibly entertaining to explore each of the characters of the novel, so I flew through it.
Like I write about in my review of The Passengers on the Hankyu Line, it’s a pleasant escape from daily life and a reminder of the beauty of our intersecting lives. 44 Scotland Street feels like peeking through the curtains into everyone else’s lives. You see a little bit of everything–the good, the bad, the embarrassing, the funny.
With that being said, this isn’t for you if you’re a big plot person. If you enjoy character studies, gentle satire, and quick reads, however, this is the perfect book.
My Favorite Parts
My favorite character was probably Bertie, although everyone had something unique to offer. Bertie is a gifted five-year-old with a mother who goes beyond “Tiger Mom.” She’s intent on turning him into a child prodigy by forcing him to do things like learn Italian and the saxophone. When Bertie starts to rebel and desires to be a normal boy, she takes him to a therapist and looks to blame everyone else. This was perhaps the most evident social commentary/gentle satire, and I enjoyed it very much. Parents like Irene are all too common in teaching, and it made me laugh to see it on the page.
The tone and voice in 44 Scotland Street are both incredibly soothing. There aren’t really the frustratingly cliche romantic tropes or the sensationalized gore or the annoying predictability of most novels and TV. Instead, it was a quiet kind of drama, which made it all the more entertaining. It was like a warm cup of tea and a cinnamon roll on an autumn day.
I also enjoy how much of a character Edinburgh is. It’s been on my bucket list for several years now, and through McCall Smith’s warm descriptions, I feel like I’ve experienced it just a little. McCall Smith is clever and adds tons of interesting little tidbits in there about Scottish culture and politics that make the story and characters feel so real, and that is perhaps my favorite part of the story.
My One Critique
This is the same problem I had with McCall Smith’s other book, The Perfect Passion Company. He chooses a female as his main character, but it’s clear that it’s a female written by a male. This is one of my pet peeves in writing. Even when the rest of the writing is entertaining and we get to explore the characters a bit, it usually leads to women being reduced to surface-level caricatures, especially in romance.
Needless to say, this happens in the story, and it was a bit frustrating to read. Despite a million red flags, Pat is attracted to Bruce solely for his looks. I’m not saying it can’t happen, but this is generally more of a male mindset than a female one.
A Final Word
That aside, it was an enjoyable read and reminded me of the stories I read when I was younger. The tone and humor were similar, and if you enjoyed books like The Mysterious Benedict Society as a child, you’ll probably like this one. It’s a fast reading, but a very enjoyable one.
Have you read 44 Scotland Street? Let me know what you thought!
