Intrepid philosopher Isabel Dalhousie investigates an unfortunate family rift, and administers some unwanted medicine. Isabel Dalhousie is a philosopher and editor of The Review of Applied Ethics. She lives in Scotland with her musician husband Jamie, and their two young boys, Charlie and Magnus. On a night out to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, she is asked to join their board in an advisory role. Isabel accepts, thinking it won't take up too much of her time. But her husband, Jamie, knows better. He counsels his wife against getting drawn into other people's affairs, as she tends to do. Her assurances soon become void when a woman named Laura with ties to the portrait gallery asks her to help out in a family dispute. Laura's adult son, Richard, is having political disputes with his father. It's got to such a stage that the two aren't talking at all. Would Isabel have a word or two with Richard to try and call a truce? The Sweet Remnants of Summer is the 17th in Alexander McCall Smith's The Sunday Philosophy Club series. The novel takes up everyday philosophical questions, but written in a pleasing and accessible form, much in the manner of Alain De Botton. This is mixed with a gently comic portrait of middle-class life, reminiscent of Anne Tyler. A neat, enjoyable read that doesn't overstep its brief. The Sweet Remnants of Summer, by Alexander McCall Smith. Published by Little, Brown. $32.99 Review by Chris Saliba Comments are closed.
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