It is hard not to love Alexander McCall Smith's works. They are copious, erudite, humorous, gentle, and above all full of the power of human love. The Peppermint Tea Chronicles is a part of the 44 Scotland Street Series and it is a far reaching tribute to the great city of Edinburgh. The book is listed as a 2019 publication, but there is a tiny note that it has been excerpted from newspaper
columns that first appeared in The Scotsman newspaper, As such the chapters are brief and do sometimes seem like the kind of snippets that may get carried on in next week's column. Yet the overall unity remains strong because the character traits can be filled in from previous books.
Most of the familiar denizens do appear--some more extensively than others. The reader can slide into their lives as smoothly as slipping on a pair of old slippers after a hard day's work. The most delightful sections are those featuring young Bertie Pollock and his friend Ranald Braveheart McPherson. Complications ensue when a circus performer manages to give the two boys a dog. This adventure dovetails nicely with the attempts of Angus the painter and hustband of Domenica to give a dead cat a decent burial.
The narratives are simple but showcase Smith's almost superhuman breadth of knowledge. The man seems to be completely at home with the comic book Popeye the sailor as he is with the details of Scottish Art History or the daily routine in medieval monasteries, Needless to say there is plenty of fun and good natured humor throughout. I loved his send up of golf and sports science. “You get a place on the course if you can count up to eighteen.” Also delightful was a riff on why the people in Scottish paintings look so alive. It is because they are freezing while posing for the artists in icy cold Scottish manor houses or castles.
Every Smith volume is sprinkled with messages for contemporary life and this one is no exception. At the ending party we are immersed in an atmosphere of quiet unity and contemplation where the world of conflict, chaos, and anxiety is pushed aside to reflect on the fact that "all folks really want is the same thing, love, understanding, and gentleness. Angus recites his final two part celebratory poem and the book is over. Love remains the anchor, the "ultimate virtue--love in all its many aspects. Love that works its way unseen into the fabric of all we do."
I do love his work.
Most of the familiar denizens do appear--some more extensively than others. The reader can slide into their lives as smoothly as slipping on a pair of old slippers after a hard day's work. The most delightful sections are those featuring young Bertie Pollock and his friend Ranald Braveheart McPherson. Complications ensue when a circus performer manages to give the two boys a dog. This adventure dovetails nicely with the attempts of Angus the painter and hustband of Domenica to give a dead cat a decent burial.
The narratives are simple but showcase Smith's almost superhuman breadth of knowledge. The man seems to be completely at home with the comic book Popeye the sailor as he is with the details of Scottish Art History or the daily routine in medieval monasteries, Needless to say there is plenty of fun and good natured humor throughout. I loved his send up of golf and sports science. “You get a place on the course if you can count up to eighteen.” Also delightful was a riff on why the people in Scottish paintings look so alive. It is because they are freezing while posing for the artists in icy cold Scottish manor houses or castles.
Every Smith volume is sprinkled with messages for contemporary life and this one is no exception. At the ending party we are immersed in an atmosphere of quiet unity and contemplation where the world of conflict, chaos, and anxiety is pushed aside to reflect on the fact that "all folks really want is the same thing, love, understanding, and gentleness. Angus recites his final two part celebratory poem and the book is over. Love remains the anchor, the "ultimate virtue--love in all its many aspects. Love that works its way unseen into the fabric of all we do."
I do love his work.
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