The Prime of Bertie Pollock

Once more, we catch up with the delightful goings-on in the fictitious 44 Scotland Street from Alexander McCall Smith. To find out where we are going, we sometimes need to find out where we came from. Sister Maria-Fiore dei Fiori Montagna, who is suffering from an acute identity crisis, wants to know more about her own past, and after doing a DNA test, she discovers that she has a relative she didn’t know about. But her new-found family causes a rift between her and her flatmate, Antonia Collie. Can they work out their differences? For Bruce, it’s a case of history repeating itself. After getting all the attention he craves – landing a starring role in a new television series – the universe has one way of putting him in his place. Even in a modern Scotland, lurking Calvinist tendencies might still strike. And Bertie’s dream of getting to the promised land – the Dear Green Place – comes crashing down as he learns that he is to move to the far North East, leaving poor Ranald Braveheart Macpherson a little heartbroken and lost. But upon his return to Edinburgh, the boys take a trip to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, and Bertie’s kindness gets a very royal recognition.