Love in the Time of Bertie: A 44 Scotland Street Novel

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The concept of a serial novel is an interesting one, as the author is locked into what he has written earlier, unable to edit. Meanwhile, further up in the New Town, Bruce Anderson's property development plans are thwarted by a sudden crisis of conscience that leads to a shocking revelation.

In March of 2011 he received an award from the President of Botswana for his services through literature to that country.They may not be as elegant as Italian footwear, but Italian shoes would never stand the rigours of Scottish conditions. But worse is on the way for Bertie: His mother, Irene decides it will broaden his horizons to come and live with her in Aberdeen for three months, an idea that horrifies most who know him. They were comfortable enough, though, and went with virtually anything, but particularly with the crushed strawberry corduroy trousers by which Angus signalled his status as a resident of the Georgian New Town, as a member of the Scottish Arts Club, and as a man of artistic bent. That quality of honesty was difficult to define – in shoes at least – but one knew it when one encountered it. Many of the characters live in apartments at 44 Scotland Street - and others are their neighbors, friends and acquaintances.

I know all his characters well, but I know especially well Mma Ramotswe from the First Ladies Detective Agency series and Bertie from the Scotland Street series. English shoes were made to last; they were modest, often understated, and they were, above all else, honest shoes.The aptly named but surprisingly couth Fat Bob is a professional strongman who raises the tax-deductibility of bacon rolls for his occupation. When you are with somebody you love the smallest, smallest things can be so important, so amusing because love transforms the world, everything. Warm hearted, humorous and wonderfully wise, Love in the Time of Bertie offers philosophical insight as well as sartorial elegance.

Bertie doesn’t want to go but is told that he must because Irene is his mother, and she has a right to see him.because it is possible to change the world, if one is determined enough, and if one sees with sufficient clarity just what has to be changed. This one has a generous helping of laugh-out-loud moments and a hilarious twist; fans will hope for many more instalments of this delightful series. There’s Domenica, whose anthropological training has honed her observations of her neighbors; Matthew, whose growing triplets are more than a handful; Bruce, whose challenge as ever is thinking of anything but himself; and Big Lou, who may just have found her shot at romance. Angus accepted the gift with a degree of concealed embarrassment: at the age of eighteen, when one is busy shaking off parental influence, who wants a pair of bespoke Lobb shoes? Ultimately, it falls to Bertie’s best friend, Ranald Braveheart MacPherson, to rescue Bertie, and that involves theft from a safe, a train journey, defenestration and close contact with ewes.