The Sweet Remnants of Summer: An Isabel Dalhousie Novel (14)

"Being married to Isabel had many positive features, but it also involved a form of moral self-scrutiny that could be challenging. But Jamie would not have it otherwise. She was the woman he adored, and if he was being influenced by her – which he was – then there was nobody else by whom he would rather be swayed."

The Sweet Remnants Of Summer is the fourteenth book in the Isabel Dalhousie series by Scottish author, Alexander McCall Smith. Isabel Dalhousie, philosopher, wife and mother of two boys, often finds herself in discussion with Jamie over cooking and eating delicious-sounding meals. They might debate Tolstoy's oft-quoted line about happy families, decide that pious people make us uncomfortable, declare that only the insecure are nasty, and wonder should the private life of an author/composer/poet/actor affect our reading & enjoyment of their work?

In this instalment of our favourite philosopher's life: Cat, Isabel's flighty niece, returns to Edinburgh without Leo and, via the business she plans to open with her new boyfriend, demonstrates just how morally casual she is. But might this not turn out quite how Isabel expects?

His teacher informs Isabel that Charlie has been biting at school, but it later turns out he's not the only one doing the biting. A curly question from Charlie also alert Isabel and Jamie to the need to agree on the concept of God for their young sons' upbringing.

As she does in every instalment, Isabel counts herself fortunate to be married to Jamie and, as he does in every instalment, Jamie begs Isabel to be careful in her unavoidable meddling. She concedes: "'Oh, I get it spectacularly wrong,' she admitted. 'Sometimes. In fact, rather often.'" Jamie describes to Isabel a situation involving a corrupt conductor showing favouritism towards his less talented lover, and confesses that, ironically, he feels the need to interfere.

Isabel is asked by the convener of a gallery advisory board that she has just joined if she will intervene in her family's rift, but the situation related to her, (a politically intolerant son, his prejudiced [maybe] boyfriend, and an overbearing father), on later consideration and discussion with Jamie, could describe a number of possibilities, so some subtle probing is needed. Jamie reflects that "Family pathology was usually deep-seated and recalcitrant; a well-meaning outsider would be able to do little to shift it from its ancient moorings."

Their housekeeper, Grace offers to consult her network of contacts in service for information, but advice from an unconventional source has her reconsidering. Isabel's thoughts regularly veer off on tangents and this fourteenth instalment also sees her contemplating the need for co-operation and peace in the world, euphemism, and the marital short-hand used by couples who know each other well to avoid touchy subjects, all while in mid-conversation.

As always, McCall Smith includes plenty of gentle philosophy and an abundance of wisdom: "Sometimes, Isabel felt, the most honest thing to do was to confess that one was not entirely sure; and that uncertainty, even vagueness, was a perfectly defensible position." Isabel's reflections often bring a smile to the face, and her banter with Jamie and Charlie provide some laugh-out-loud moments Another delightfully entertaining dose of Alexander McCall Smith.