The Novel Habits of Happiness

I have loved this series from the time I read the first book. Of course, in my opinion, McCall Smith can do no wrong. All of his books are fully entertaining. Yet there\’s something about this series that I find very comforting. With so many horrors in the world, these books inspire coziness: I light my wood stove, settle down with the book, an afghan over my legs (and eventually cats also settling in all around me), and escape into the lovely Edinburgh world of Isabel Dalhousie. She is an independently wealthy philosopher and the owner/editor of a quarterly philosophy review journal. Isabel never flaunts her wealth, but is privately generous with many charities. She also likes to help people who seem to need her help. As a philosopher, she believes it is her responsibility to assist anyone who comes within her realm. Thus, she tends to get herself into predicaments that at times are a little dangerous but that mostly turn out simply awkward or very satisfying. As the series progresses, characters from previous books reappear, some of them not very nice. But Isabel\’s humorous view of the world and her constant ruminating about what\’s right and what should happen provide a wonderful, sometimes laugh-out-loud enjoyment. Each time a new book comes out, I read the full series in order. This way I can delay the fun of reading the newest book. This latest is #10.

This is the tenth book in a series about a fictional philosopher, Isabel Dalhousie, living in Edinburgh with her husband and young child. I am fond of Isabel (though not as fond as I am of Precious Ramotswe, the central character in McCall Smith\’s entirely lovely No. 1 Ladies\’ Detective Agency series), and I found this a gentle, agreeable, soothing read. Difficulties arise and are largely resolved . Through Isabel\’s eyes, we see people with all their foibles and find sympathy with them anyhow. One thing seemed slightly discordant: Isabel is portrayed as a loving, happy mother, yet there are few occasions when we see her interacting with her young son — instead he\’s with his father, or asleep, or at nursery school, or playing separately. My favorite moment was the resolution of a thread about a paper titled \”The Ethical World of My Mother,\” a resolution I\’d anticipated in its broad strokes, but which nonetheless strongly moved me. McCall Smith has a knack for showing the importance of everyday kindness, of the connections between people, of goodness, and he does so without veering into moralizing or cloying sentimentality. About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don\’t end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn\’t like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I\’ve loved).

The Novel Habits of Happiness is another beautiful book by Scottish author Alexander McCall Smith. As it\’s the 10th books in the series, habitual readers already know the characters: Isabel, always \”interfering\” and helping others, Jamie her husband, Cat her niece, Grace the housekeeper and little Charlie, her son. What I loved about this book starts with the title: Happiness. How do we attain it, how wt struggle to be happy, what happens if we aren\’t? As Isabel tries to help, once again, someone in distress, she philosophically wanders between trying to do too much or too little for others. At what point should she stop meddling? When is it correct to pry into other peoples\’ lives? As a friend tells her: \”The whole world is not your problem. We think that is -I know that plenty of people feel they have to shoulder the burdens of the whole planet, but we can\’t, can we?\” And that is what makes Isabel such an appealing character, her weaknesses, her intelligence, her kindness. It also is the type of book that makes me sad to finish. I\’m already on the waiting list for the next one in the series

In preparation for the week in Edinburgh I read all the Isabel Dalhousie stories in one weekend. I never looked up except to check the street map of Edinburgh to see exactly where she was straying. Obviously, I really loved the books. I borrowed them as ebooks from the library and have been rereading them, chuckling all the way. Isabel is me, or what I wished to be. I had no money as a student so did not get to travel until my later years. Now I have just returned from Edinburgh having visited the galleries on Dundas Street, the area of Bruntsfield where I had a lovely dinner at an Italian restaurant, Napier U. and the ducks at the Union Canal. I would like to have the whole set of books but at least I will have this one readily available.

Reading this series is like sitting down with a lovely cup of tea and a great big chocolate bar; I want to slowly let the characters (one of whom is the city of Edinburgh, Scotland itself) and the atmosphere surround me and remind me of the valuable things in life. The Isabel Dalhousie series is my absolute favorite by this author, and I eagerly re-read all previous nine books in the series before indulging in this, the 10th installment. It was worth the wait and it was definitely enjoyable to read them all in order. I love the quiet lifestyle of the protagonist and I love how the author describes the turnings and quirkiness of her thinking patterns. I feel as if he is writing about me sometimes (there are quite a few similarities between the main character and me, and I wonder if any woman in her 40s could say this after reading these books . . . ) There is always a slight mystery, but it is more thought-provoking than tension-inducing, so I can luxuriate while reading rather than rushing through the book to find out who did what and how. I love these books so much that I feel the author is a member of my extended family (that\’s probably creepy for him to think about, but it\’s meant as a sincere compliment!)

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