The Importance of Being Seven
Chapters (89)
- Also by Alexander McCall Smith
- COPYRIGHT
- Contents
- Preface
- 1. Nothing But Tenderness
- 2. A Very Considerate Husband
- 3. At Big Lou’s
- 4. Auden and Burns, and Bertie
- 5. Pre-Natal Classroom – for Babies
- 6. The Ways of Ulysses
- 7. Anthropological Issues
- 8. Domenica Has Coffee With Dilly
- 9. The Grosseto Road
- 10. The Return of Pat Macgregor
- 11. Pat’s Flat
- 12. The Green Hotel
- 13. On the 23 Bus
- 14. Regurgitation Issues
- 15. Edinburgh People
- 16. For Love or Money
- 17. The News from Arbroath
- 18. Ten Years with the Pygmies
- 19. The Question of Cosmetic Surgery
- 20. The Aphrodite of Dundas Street
- 21. Impressionists and Post-Impressionists
- 22. More About Baden-Powell
- 23. The Insouciance of Tofu
- 24. Some Sophisticated Colours
- 25. 100 Things for a Boy to Do: Part 1
- 26. 100 Things for a Boy to Do: Part 2
- 27. Forgery Exposed
- 28. A Game of Bridge
- 29. Underneath the Lamplight
- 30. Trust and Revelation
- 31. Pregnancy Plans
- 32. Dramatic, Life-Enhancing News
- 33. The Implications of Boys
- 34. Carnoustie Shortbread
- 35. Édouard Vuillard and the Interior Vision
- 36. Fear a’ Bhata
- 37. Political Crisis
- 38. Show and Tell
- 39. Which World Am I Living In?
- 40. A Moment on Queen Street
- 41. Psychotherapeutic Matters
- 42. Life and Chance
- 43. A Scotsman, His Life and Marriage
- 44. A Move to Moray Place
- 45. In Moray Place
- 46. What We Really Are
- 47. The Symbolism of Birds
- 48. The Breaking of the Heart
- 49. Chinoiserie
- 50. Matthew is Decisive
- 51. A Letter of Comfort
- 52. The Meaning of Always
- 53. An Offer is Made
- 54. The Therapeutic Hour
- 55. Men Can Cry
- 56. From Scotland With Love
- 57. Bonnie Irene’s Noo Awa
- 58. Painful Questions
- 59. Regret on Corstorphine Road
- 60. The Comfort of Friends
- 61. Big Lou on Art and Fashion
- 62. Unwelcome Thoughts
- 63. Italy At Last
- 64. Services to the Republic
- 65. The Impact of Italy
- 66. Pacta Sunt Servanda
- 67. An Outing Begins
- 68. The Need for Evidence
- 69. On Subsidence
- 70. Supporting Walls
- 71. Arrival at the Villa
- 72. Mistah Kurtz, He Dead
- 73. The Possibilities of Florence
- 74. In Proper Boots
- 75. The Haar Rolls In
- 76. A Real Boy’s Room
- 77. Bertie’s Dream
- 78. An Incident in a Café
- 79. Unbearable Beauty
- 80. Antonia’s Condition Explained
- 81. A Terrible Mistake
- 82. Shocking Developments
- 83. A Hinterland of Regret
- 84. Icarus, Cyril, a Ducati
- 85. The Timetable of Happiness
Alexander McCall Smith is the author of over sixty books on a wide array of subjects. For many years he was Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh and served on national and international bioethics bodies. Then in 1999 he achieved global recognition for his award-winning series The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, and thereafter has devoted his time to the writing of fiction, including the 44 Scotland Street and Corduroy Mansions series. His books have been translated into forty-five languages. He lives in Edinburgh with his wife, Elizabeth, a doctor.
Praise for the 44 Scotland Street novels:
‘Perfect escapist fiction’
The Times
‘Simple, elegantly written and gently insightful’
Good Book Guide
‘A joyous, charming portrait of city life and human foibles, which moves beyond its setting to deal with deep moral issues and love, desire and friendship’
Sunday Express
‘Does for Edinburgh what Armistead Maupin did for San Francisco: seeks to capture the city’s rhythms by focusing on a small, emblematic corner… A light-hearted, genial soap opera’
Financial Times Magazine
Also by Alexander McCall Smith
THE NO.1 LADIES’ DETECTIVE AGENCY SERIES
The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
Tears of the Giraffe
Morality for Beautiful Girls
The Kalahari Typing School for Men
The Full Cupboard of Life
In the Company of Cheerful Ladies
Blue Shoes and Happiness
The Good Husband of Zebra Drive
The Miracle at Speedy Motors
Tea Time for the Traditionally Built
The Double Comfort Safari Club
The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party
THE SUNDAY PHILOSOPHY CLUB SERIES
The Sunday Philosophy Club
Friends, Lovers, Chocolate
The Right Attitude to Rain
The Careful Use of Compliments
The Comfort of Saturdays
The Lost Art of Gratitude
The Charming Quirks of Others
THE 44 SCOTLAND STREET SERIES
44 Scotland Street
Espresso Tales
Love Over Scotland
The World According to Bertie
The Unbearable Lightness of Scones
THE CORDUROY MANSIONS SERIES
Corduroy Mansions
The Dog Who Came in from the Cold
The 2½ Pillars of Wisdom
La’s Orchestra Saves the World
COPYRIGHT
Published by Hachette Digital
ISBN: 978-0-748-11887-8
All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public
domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely
coincidental.
Copyright © 2010 Alexander McCall Smith
Illustrations © Iain McIntosh 2010
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior
permission in writing of the publisher.
Hachette Digital
Little, Brown Book Group
100 Victoria Embankment
London, EC4Y 0DY
Contents
Also by Alexander McCall Smith
Copyright
Preface
1. Nothing But Tenderness
2. A Very Considerate Husband
3. At Big Lou’s
4. Auden and Burns, and Bertie
5. Pre-Natal Classroom – for Babies
6. The Ways of Ulysses
7. Anthropological Issues
8. Domenica Has Coffee With Dilly
9. The Grosseto Road
10. The Return of Pat Macgregor
11. Pat’s Flat
12. The Green Hotel
13. On the 23 Bus
14. Regurgitation Issues
15. Edinburgh People
16. For Love or Money
17. The News from Arbroath
18. Ten Years with the Pygmies
19. The Question of Cosmetic Surgery
20. The Aphrodite of Dundas Street
21. Impressionists and Post-Impressionists