Author Alexander McCall Smith
Alexander McCall Smith is probably best known for his 'Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency' series, but he's a prolific author who also pens other series and standalone books. Smith is also a respected expert on medical law and bioethics, and his characters often engage in philosophical discussions and face ethical dilemmas.
In this book, a public health doctor/university lecturer crosses swords with the ambitious director of an Edinburgh research institute.
*****
As the book opens, public health specialist Dr. Neil Anderson is doing well. Thirty-five-year-old Anderson is a lecturer at a research institute in Edinburgh.....
......and is living with his girlfriend Chrissie Thomson - a junior microbiologist at the facility.
During Anderson's class called 'Control of Communicable Disease in Urban Conditions', Neil speaks about the insanitary lifestyle of some destitute people. Neil goes on to talk about being called to a flat in Glasgow, and says, "I saw dirty plates piled sky high around a sink that hadn't been cleaned since goodness knows when. I remember the cockroaches scuttling away when I went in. It was disgusting."
Nineteen-year-old student Tom Barnes, a troublemaker with a chip on his shoulder, sees an opportunity to make a ruckus.
So Tom goes to the new institute director, Henrietta Fold, and reports that Dr. Anderson said people living in difficult conditions were disgusting....and he (Tom) was upset by that remark.
Coincidentally, Henrietta is an ambitious bully who's determined to put her stamp on the school. So Henrietta tells Tom to make an official complaint.
Henrietta then calls in Dr. Neil Anderson, and after a brief discussion, tells him, "I think you should issue an apology for using words that inadvertently - and I stress, inadvertently - caused distress."
Anderson insists he said the CONDITIONS were disgusting, not the PEOPLE, and he refuses to atone. Henrietta means to get her way, and the situation escalates to the point where Henrietta says she has to take the matter to the administration, and Anderson is suspended.
To make things worse, Neil learns his girlfriend Chrissie has been cheating on him. So Neil moves out and goes to stay with his friend James for a few days. When Neil tells James he's resigning from his job and going to the Highlands to 'get away from it all', James offers up a small farmhouse he inherited from his grandfather, located on the island of Mull.
Neil goes to Mull and becomes friendly with some of the local people, like Stuart and Maddy, who live right down the road. In Mull, most people have small farms and do other jobs as well. So Stuart raises oysters and takes people out on boats to fish and dive, and Maddy keeps goats and designs websites.
Maddy also loves poetry and philosophical discussions, and she and Neil talk about poems, relationships, animosity, grudges, amends, forgiveness, remembering, forgetting, and so on.
Maddy and Stuart want to help Neil, so they arrange for him to meet the local veterinarian Jill, a lovely woman who's called the local Circe (enchantress), because men tend to fall in love with her.
The mellow lifestyle on Mull starts to heal Neil's wounds, and he'd like to put the trouble in Edinburgh behind him. But Neil's friend James comes for a visit, and James shares disparaging news about Henrietta and Chrissie. Moreover, James has learned VERY DAMAGING information about Henrietta.
There's PROOF Henrietta committed financial malfeasance at the research institute, and got money she wasn't entitled to. James wants Neil to report Henrietta, get her dismissed, and get REVENGE. But should Neil get do this? The moral dilemma in this story concerns whether Neil should take steps to 'get back' at Henrietta or not. I think some people would agree with Neil's actions and some would not.
Much of the book's charm centers on Neil's respite in Mull, where he rests, goes fishing, dines with neighbors, makes friends, goes to a Cèilidh (dance), and heals from his traumas.
Mull Island
Cèilidh
I always enjoy Alexander McCall Smith's books, which provide food for thought. I'd recommend the book to fans of literary fiction.
Thanks to Netgalley, Alexander McCall Smith, and Pantheon for a copy of the book.
Rating: 3.5 stars
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