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(More customer reviews)You have to believe that author Alexander McCall Smith has a special fondness for his main character in "The Sunday Philosophy Club" series, Isabel Dalhousie, for he has created for her a seamlessly agreeable life. She is intelligent, well-educated, well-to-do and beautiful. She has a handsome, sensitive and younger fiance, who has fathered her beautiful and well-behaved son. Isabel loves her "job" as a moral philosopher and editor of a scholarly journal and lives in a historic mansion in Edinburgh, a city that fits her like a glove.
So without the frisson and stress, how does "The Lost Art of Gratitude" (and others in the series) grab the reader's attention and hold it? It may well be that the very stresslessness of living is what makes her story so interesting and enjoyable to the reader. You know that nothing terrible will ever really happen to Isabel and to the ones she loves. Who doesn't fantasize about a world where we are surrounded by beauty and intelligence that will never end? Where babies don't ever have to have their diapers changed nor do they ever get colic or throw tantrums. Where your SO, in addition to being beautiful/handsome and talented, respects you and intuitively connects with your every thought and impulse. And is always yin to your yang.
McCall Smith does provide a few gray clouds for his heroine in "The Lost Art..." in the form of a couple of Isabel's old adversaries--Minty Aucterlonie and Christopher Dove, but they have both been vanquished by Isabel in the past, and there is no doubt that she will prevail against them again.
Ultimately, the greatest pleasure from the book for this reader, was the time and space that Isabel Dalhousie is given to ruminate about the human condition and the interactions of people in ordinary day-to-day situations. This isn't peace in the Middle East or the answer to world poverty, but it is important reflection on how we behave toward each other as residents of shared communities. Hypocrisy and greed are two of the main identified enemies for Isabel, but all human folly is grist for her consideration. Respect and charity are always her goals.
McCall Smith's paragon does have interesting flaws--she is overly considerate and reasonable and therefore unable, at times, to correctly read the baser actions of others. These misunderstandings and her occasional outright cluelessness give the story needed zing and interest.
"The Lost Art of Gratitude" is another gentle and sweet installment in a series that you have to hope will hold McCall Smith's interest and enterprise for many years to come.
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