Product Description

The sensational sixth installment in the best-selling chronicles of the irrepressibly curious Isabel Dalhousie.

Isabel’s son, Charlie, is now of an age—eighteen months—to have a social life, and so off they go to a birthday party, where, much to Isabel’s surprise, she encounters an old adversary, Minty Auchterlonie, now a high-flying financier. Minty had seemed to Isabel a woman of ruthless ambition, but the question of her integrity had never been answered. Now, when Minty takes Isabel into her confidence about a personal matter, Isabel finds herself going another round: Is Minty to be trusted? Or is she the perpetrator of an enormous financial fraud? And what should Isabel make of the rumors of shady financial transactions at Minty's investment bank?

Not that this is the only dilemma facing Isabel: she also crosses swords again with her nemesis, Professor Dove, in an argument over plagiarism. Of course her niece, Cat, has a new, problematic man (a tightrope walker!) in her life. And there remains the open question of marriage to Jamie—doting father of Charlie.

As always, there is no end to the delight in accompanying Isabel as she makes her way toward the heart of every problem: philosophizing, sleuthing, and downright snooping in her inimitable—and inimitably charming—fashion.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2815 in Books
• Published on: 2009-09-22
• Released on: 2009-09-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 272 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780375425141
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Smith's quietly triumphant sixth novel to feature Scottish philosopher Isabel Dalhousie (after 2008's The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday) shows that Isabel and the author's other, better-known female sleuth—Precious Ramotswe of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series—are sisters under the skin, despite obvious differences. Minty Auchterlonie, who once alerted Isabel to some insider trading, fears someone is out to get her. The tax authorities have suddenly investigated Minty, and an unknown party has sent her a funeral wreath. When Isabel looks into these provocative acts, she draws on lessons learned from the journal she edits, the Review of Applied Ethics, to arrive at the complex truth behind them. Meanwhile, the father of Isabel's young son proposes marriage, and a defeated academic rival accuses her of knowingly publishing plagiarism. Smith's trademark humor and telling observations about people heighten the appeal. (Sept. 22)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From The Washington Post
From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com Reviewed by Bob Thompson a former staff writer for The Washington Post Early in the sixth novel in Alexander McCall Smith's Isabel Dalhousie series, the title character -- an Edinburgh philosopher and well-meaning intervener in the affairs of others -- makes a comment that suggests the kind of entertainment "The Lost Art of Gratitude" is going to be. "Somebody had told her," Isabel muses, "that the essence of a good still life was the feeling it inspired that something was just on the point of happening. What was about to happen here?" Not much, it turns out. This literary still life will go on for 56 more pages before a plot suggests itself. But plot has never been what draws readers to McCall Smith, either in this series or in his No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency novels. The books' appeal has to do, as the author once suggested, with their portrayal of characters "in whom generosity of spirit is very strong." As befits the editor of the Review of Applied Ethics, Isabel is concerned with the intersection of philosophical principles and daily life. One such principle is "moral proximity," the idea that when people you know are in need, you have no choice but to try to help them. Enter Minty Auchterlonie, a self-centered investment banker of Isabel's acquaintance who asks for help with an ex-lover who she says is harassing her. Isabel can't say no, despite her inclination to view all investment bankers as usurers -- a judgment she characteristically rejects as "uncharitable" soon after voicing it. Complications ensue, along with something that might be loosely described as a mystery. Yet "The Lost Art of Gratitude" isn't really about Minty and her morally problematic intrigues. It's about Isabel. A 40-year-old woman who has survived a debilitating first marriage, she struggles to let herself be happy with Jamie, the much younger father of her 18-month-old son. "I do not deserve somebody so beautiful," she thinks at one point, because "none of us deserves good fortune . . . it simply comes." But the self-examining philosopher promptly corrects herself: "Do I really believe that? I do not, and never have." Quite often, in fact, "we get what we deserve." McCall Smith's readers get what they deserve as well. He has created a world where humor is gentle, suffering is acknowledged but not foregrounded, and efforts to do good are usually rewarded. It's a wonderful place to visit, even if we don't get to live there.
Copyright 2009, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

Review
Praise for the Isabel Dalhousie Series:

"Alexander McCall Smith, a fine writer, paints his hometown of Edinburgh as indelibly as he captures the sunniness of Africa. We can almost feel the mists as we tread the cobblestones."
—The Dallas Morning News

"The literary equivalent of herbal tea and a cozy fire . . . Invite[s] readers into a world of kindness, gentility, and creature comforts. McCall Smith's Scotland [is] well worth future visits."
—The New York Times

"Alexander McCall Smith's assessments of fellow humans are piercing and profound. [His] depictions of Edinburgh are vivid and seamless . . . His fans are sure to embrace these moral peregrinations among the plaid."
—San Francisco Chronicle


From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews

An enviable life
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.

Is Alexander McCall Smith getting bored with the series?
The Lost Art of Gratitude is the 6th novel in the "Sunday Philosophy Club" series by Alexander McCall Smith, which center on philosopher and occasional amateur sleuth Isabel Dalhousie. The book picks up only 2-3 months after "The Comfort of Saturdays" - Isabel and Jamie's son Charlie now being 18 months old.

If you've read the other books in the series you'll know that they feature an assortment of storylines, most of which seem to take a backseat to Isabel's musings on everyday matters. This book is no different. Minty Auchterlonie asks Isabel to help her with a troublesome problem, Isabel's niece Cat has a new and unsuitable fiance, Brother Fox is injured and needs medical attention and Christopher Dove is scheming to force Isabel to resign as editor of the Review of Applied Ethics.

I truly love this series, but I was so disappointed by this book which felt like it was written "by numbers". One of the things that I like most is Isabel's musings on life and ethics. However this time round they felt forced: formulaic rather than intriguing. Also, McCall Smith seemed to have only limited interest in the plotlines. Cat's relationship felt like it was tucked in as an afterthought ("must involve Cat - oh let's give her another problematic boyfriend and we can just wrap it up by Isabel hearing about what happened"). The Minty storyline was given more prominence but then again it felt like he got bored with it in the end.

If you've loved this series as I do, you should still read the book - while disappointing, it's not completely dreadful. However I'd wait for the paperback. If you're new to the series, don't start here! Start with The Sunday Philosophy Club (Isabel Dalhousie Mysteries). It's a series best read in order.

Ultimately unsatisfying
There's a significant word in the title - "Novel". Yes, "novel", not "mystery" as the previous Isabel Dalhousie books have been labelled. So, there is "truth in advertising" because there is certainly no solving of mysteries in this book.

Instead we have the gentle story of a few weeks in the charmed life of Isabel Dalhousie and her relatives, friends and enemies, in which nothing much happens.

The not-so-nice Profs Dove & Lettuce re-appear but are easily and oh-so conveniently foiled again. The main storyline (or what I assumed was the main storyline) involving Minty the investment banker seems largely unresolved by the end of the book, so much so that I had to re-read it to make sure that I hadn't accidentally missed some important plot development by skipping a page. Perhaps the plan is for the next novel in the series to bring the Minty storyline to some kind of closure, or is the lack of closure somehow the point of the novel?

Perhaps "The Lost Art of Gratitude" is an attempt to resposition Isabel Dalhousie series into the serialised format of the 44 Scotland Street series, where we expect to follow the storylines of the characters from book to book. Or perhaps the author has just run out of steam with this group of characters?

If you are an Alexander McCall Smith fan and have read all his other books (as I have), by all means read this book for completeness (I am sure nothing I could say would stop you anyway). If you are new to Alexander McCall Smith, then this isn't the book to start with, try Number One Ladies' Detective Agency.