Irene, you've really gone too far this time...

Alexander McCall Smith is best known for his No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, but I prefer his 44 Scotland Street series. This series features a small cast of interesting characters living in Edinburgh. His latest installment in this series is The World According to Bertie. In my opinion, Bertie is the most likable and interesting character in the series. McCall Smith writes in the preface that wherever he goes, people always ask him how Bertie is doing. Bertie, who is only six, has been the only child (until now) of Irene and Stuart. Irene considers Bertie her "project." She is determined that Bertie will become an exceptionally intelligent, well-educated, sympathetic, "evolved" young man. All Bertie wants to do is play with other boys in the park, but Irene forces Bertie to take Italian and saxophone lessons, play with girls, and attend yoga classes and psychotherapy. She makes him wear strawberry colored pants instead of jeans like the regular boys, and paints his room pink. In this installment, Irene has just had a baby. Bertie is overjoyed, because he thinks the baby will distract his mother's attention. Not so. Irene uses the baby as an opportunity to "educate" Bertie on nurturing. Bertie is expected to help change the baby and help pump the breast milk. Seriously. This woman makes me so mad! When will someone stand up to her? (I'm sure readers everywhere cheered when, in the last book, Angus's dog Cyril bit Irene.) Fortunately, none of the other characters are this bad-in fact, they are quite lovely people and I always enjoy peeking into their lives. The next installment, The Unbearable Lightness of Scones, is due out in the UK May (I'm not sure of the US publication date).