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44 Scotland Street
- 44 Scotland Street, Book 1
- Narrated by: Hilary Neville
- Series: 44 Scotland Street, Book 1
- Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
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Summary
The story revolves around the comings and goings at No. 44 Scotland Street, a fictitious building in a real street in Edinburgh. Immediately recognisable are the Edinburgh chartered surveyor, stalwart of the Conservative Association, who dreams of membership of Scotland's most exclusive golf club. We have the pushy Stockbridge mother, and her prodigiously talented five-year-old son, who is making good progress with the saxophone and with his Italian. Then there is Domenica Macdonald who is that type of Edinburgh lady who sees herself as a citizen of a broader intellectual world. In McCall Smith's hands such characters retain charm and novelty, simultaneously arousing both mirth and empathy. 44 Scotland Street is vintage McCall Smith, tackling issues of trust and honesty, snobbery and hypocrisy, love and loss, but all with great lightness of touch. Clever, elegant and funny, this is a novel that provides huge entertainment but which is underpinned by the moral dilemmas of everyday life and the characters' struggles to resolve them.
What listeners say about 44 Scotland Street
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Louise
- 02-03-12
A gentle read full of delicious humour
A great book if you are looking for a gentle read. The book is full of interesting characters, subtly and amusingly portrayed - with hints of the completely absurd, which just add to the fun. I can't wait to read/listen to the next one!
5 people found this helpful
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- Miss Tammy Finnigan
- 19-12-16
Great observations beautifully weaved into fun stories
Modern classic! Gentle, whimsical and very compelling. Such a fun book full of great observations! Really liked the narrator, the voice can make it break the book but Hillary was an excellent choice. Loved no1 ladies detective agency and think I'm going to love this series just as much, have ordered the next one already!
3 people found this helpful
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- Larraine
- 01-07-16
accents
would have liked to have listened to the story bring told in a scottish accent
9 people found this helpful
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- Tracey
- 17-05-16
Even Better than book.
Wonderfully quirky tale of everyday life in Edinburgh with remarkably well-drawn characters and fine narrating.
2 people found this helpful
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- Marcus
- 25-05-22
Wasn’t expecting Ian Rankin to appear
I stumbled across 44 Scotland Street book 15 and absolute loved it so had to go back to the beginning. The first book in the series didn’t disappoint considering the amount of time the characters have had to develop. It’s like Eastenders without the CHAVs and as bingeworthy as a good Netflix series.
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- Kindle Customer
- 30-12-21
Funny, touching and a great read
This was a great story. I liked the way it had small chapters and you could pick it up and here a quick listen. It was beautifully read. This book is funny, at times touching and I found it hard to put down.
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- Rhiannon
- 14-08-21
I don't understand
I didn't enjoy this book at all, I don't know who you're meant to like, relate to or cheer for. Really odd
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- Mrs L M Loud
- 25-06-21
A good listen really enjoyed
Really loved it great story, and very good performance.
Look forward to the next one.
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- Anonymous User
- 12-12-20
heart warming and witty!
I just loved it from beginning to end. Lovely characters that you get to know
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- Holly
- 04-10-20
Irritating narration + old fashioned judgements
Rather disgusted (reading this in 2020) by the anti/judgemental attitudes towards gay people and old fashioned views on marriage. frankly I don't want to continue giving this book my attention so I'm stopping with 9 hours left to go. Also found the narrator's emphasis and way of speaking annoying, sorry! I'm sure you're someone else's dream narrator!
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- Stephanie
- 10-11-21
Loved everything about it
Lovely start to the series. Trademark Alexander McCall Smith - gentle and touching characterisations, subtle observations, a delight to read - and this is a superbly narrated version.
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- Ruth
- 04-08-13
Blah
What would have made 44 Scotland Street better?
getting to the point quicker - it rambled on and on about nothing of importance
What could Alexander McCall Smith have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?
cut out at least 50 chapters. Created characters that had at least some redeeming qualities - they were all vapid, boring , self obsessed and insipid.
Which character – as performed by Hilary Neville – was your favorite?
she did a great job considering how little she had to work with
You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?
not really
Any additional comments?
completely mis represented in the reviews. Did these people actually listen to this drivel??