The Lost Art of Gratitude by Alexander McCall Smith
- Book: The Lost Art of Gratitude
- Location: Edinburgh
- Author: Alexander McCall Smith
This book is a slow-burning charmer. It is the 6th in a series, The Sunday Philosophy Club series, but it is the first I’ve read in the series. I have read one other of McCall-Smith’s books, and can see the similarities clearly: precise diction, contemplative narrators, details of time and place that, if you’ve been there, give you a titillating feeling of ‘Knowing.’
It takes a while to warm up, but there is a well-constructed plot, some good twists and turns, and plenty of dry humor. The tone of the book is calm, reflective, and always master of itself, rarely given to bursts of energy and never feeling dangerous. It seems a little pent-up to my American sensibilities, but then it IS British.
I particularly liked the inner monologues of the main character, Isabel, as she meanders into side-thoughts and tangential musings of ethics or justice or rightness and fairness, probably because it is something I do as well. A well-crafted character, and an interesting story set in Edinburgh, with some cheeky shots at tartan-worship that gave me a laugh.
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