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44 Scotland Street
- 44 Scotland Street, Book 1
- Narrated by: Hilary Neville
- Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins
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44 Scotland Street
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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.
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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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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- AliBerks
- 03-05-18
A good listen
typical of Alexander McCall Smith books. lovely book nice pace, nothing exciting in the storyline.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Larraine
- 01-07-16
accents
would have liked to have listened to the story bring told in a scottish accent
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12 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- 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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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- 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!
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 18-11-12
Gentle and entertaining
Fine characterisation by Hilary Neville helps make this a very pleasing and entertaining audio book, with a varied and interesting cast of individuals.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- 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!
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8 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
- Kathleen
- 12-11-17
gentle read.
a bit like listening to your auntie telling stories of her younger days. not gripping but mildly interesting. would probably appeal more if you're Scottish. many geographical references to Edinburgh and Scotland. wouldn't rush to read any more but the kind of book you can read in short bursts because there isn't a need to find out what happens next.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mary Carnegie
- 20-08-14
Edimbourgoisie tenderly mocked.
I haven't much time for his African novels, but I consider Edinburgh my home, though I only lived there for nine years, medical school and early work life.
I adore these well observed loving satires on middle class Edinburgh mœurs. I recognise these characters, and even, to some extent, myself.
A few years of my Edinburgh life were lived just round the corner from Scotland Street (and, therefore close to Ian Rankin's Rebus base in Gayfield Square: the shadow side of our glorious capital)
That's Edinburgh for you - the Enlightenment, David Hume, Adam Smith, James Boswell ad infinitum.., but still annoyed at being the youngest of the four universities, until 1960s created new ones, allowing us to think that 1583 wasn't so parvenu!
It's also the city of Burke & Hare, Deacon Brodie (respectable by day, burglar by night) Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, of Sherlock Holmes' creator.
London's too big to be so magical, so individual, so European, both inward looking and forward looking.
When I die, I hope that Heaven will be a lot like Edinburgh except maybe a wee bit warmer - I may have to do time in Purgatory (Glasgow) first. ( Apologies, I know some folk who like Glasgow.)
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Rose
- 21-03-23
Unimpressed
i tried this because I love No 1 detective agency series. Poor in comparison.
Reader good though.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lynn
- 31-08-23
Quirky perfect portrait of Edinburgh characters shame the narrative was English.
What a shame the narrator read so much in an English accent. I think l will read the next one not listen to it on audio.
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3 people found this helpful