About a third of the way into the novel McCall Smith throws in a line that will be humorous only to regular readers of his 44 Scotland Street series of novels: "His seventh year, it seemed to him, had lasted a remarkably long time and there were points at which he frankly wondered whether he would ever turn seven."
Bertie Pollack had been six years old since the first novel in the series in 2005. That's eight novels and eight years by the time this one was published. The author joked about Bertie staying stuck at six when I heard him speak in Clearwater a year or two before this book.
So finally turning seven is a big deal for Bertie, as it is for readers of this series. These books follow the lives of several characters, yet Bertie has been the fan favorite. We tend to tolerate the other characters so we can get past them to read about Bertie and his oppressive mother, Irene. A progressive feminist with a will of iron, Irene wants to raise Bertie in a gender-neutral world. She frowns on typical boy toys and activities, insists there be girls at his birthday party and takes him to see a shrink, which he may actually need by the time she is through with him. He wants a Swiss Army knife for his birthday. Instead she gets him a Junior UN Peacekeeping Kit and a doll.
But then Irene wins a vacation for one to Dubai where, well, a string of delightful complications ensue. It all but proves that there is a God. Bertie, meanwhile, has the time of his life.
As for the other characters, Pat finds love, as does her father; Antonia returns to visit Angus and Dominica, bringing along a nun who has a way of stating the obvious while making it sound like wisdom; Matthew and Elspeth's au pair gets her own au pair; and Big Lou becomes a foster mom. All this is interesting enough, but let's get back to Bertie.
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