Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers

Starred review from February 1, 2015
The title of the ninth 44 Scotland Street novel is a bit poignant. Bertie Pollock may be the most desperately overscheduled, overmanaged almost-seven-year-old in Edinburgh. He yearns for escape from the rounds of psychotherapy, Italian, and yoga to which his well-meaning but overbearing mother subjects him. Bertie's idea of a guide is anything that hints of freedom, like a Swiss Army knife, a fishing pole, a Cub Scout camping trip, and Glasgowdefinitely Glasgow, where he dreams of going when he finally turns 18 and can live away. Bertie isn't a tragic figure but rather a temporarily frustrated one, like most of the characters in this novel, whose points of view McCall Smith expertly calls forth, dipping into the minds of people like student Pat, an arts major very susceptible to beautiful males; through Bruce, a beautiful male in love with himself; and through Matthew, ecstatic and gobsmacked by his wife's giving birth to triplets. McCall Smith can even render a dog's cogitations convincingly. This is the eleventh anniversary of the start of the series as a feature that ran in daily episodes in The Scotsman. McCall Smith still produces the serial daily for a few months each year, later publishing the chapters as a novel. Readers can start here and feel the warmth of McCall Smith's wit, deft characterization, and overarching theme of kindness. However, if you read the series from the outset, you'll be treated to an astonishing view of changes in characters' lives, very much like a time-lapse video in book form.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)