Product Description

The key to contentment in the Scottish climate is the right attitude to rain - just as in life the key to happiness lies in making the best of what you have. Bruised in love by her faithless Irish husband, Isabel Dalhousie is a connoisseur of intimate moral issues: she edits a philosophical journal and spends a great deal of her time considering how to improve the lives of those around her. There is her housekeeper Grace, whose future she must secure; her niece Cat, who is embarking on a new relationship with a dubious workaholic mummy's boy; and even an American couple newly arrived in Edinburgh on a tour. And then there is Jamie, Cat's ex-boyfriend, a handsome, gifted musician fourteen years Isabel's junior, with whom she is slowly and hopelessly falling in love. Intensely thoughtful and consistently entertaining, THE RIGHT ATTITUDE TO RAIN is shot through with compassion and unassuming intelligence.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7097 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-30
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Review
** 'Isabel is an appealing character, always trying to work out the right thing to do, and McCall Smith presents her with a series of dilemmas ?This is an unconventional novel, in which the power of emotion to cloud human intelligence takes precedence, but it is shot through with a gentle humanism that will delight McCall Smith's admirers' SUNDAY TIMES ** 'Delightful ... McCall Smith is a writer who celebrates kindness, in short supply in the world today' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH ** 'Isabel is an appealing character, always trying to work out the right thing to do, and McCall Smith presents her with a seri

Sunday Times
'Shot through with a gentle humanism that will delight McCall
Smith's admirers'

About the Author
Following a distinguished career as a Professor of Medical Law, Alexander McCall Smith has turned to writing full-time. He is the author of over sixty books on a wide array of subjects, and his books have been translated into thirty-seven languages. He lives in Edinburgh with his wife.

Customer Reviews

The Examined Life Examined

Once upon a time philosophers dealt with practical questions of ethics: When is it appropriate to lie? When can you take another life? When may you be silent while another makes a mistake? Alexander McCall Smith returns us to those musings, dressed up in the clothing of a divorced woman, Isabel Dalhousie, dealing with her personal life and her profession as the editor of the Review of Applied Ethics. For those who like some intellectual depth with their stories, this series will be most rewarding. For those who want big laughs and ironies that make you instantly smile, go back to The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.

This is the third book in the series. In the prior books, Isabel shows herself to be a woman who likes to take her time to examine her behavior . . . before acting . . . and usually kicks herself when she doesn't let her intellect lead her. While being concerned about her niece, Cat, Isabel mostly is disappointed that Cat has rejected the handsome and worthy Jamie for a series of less good marital candidates. But Isabel has taken solace in keeping Jamie for a friend, while Jamie pines for the uninterested Cat.

When it rains, is that a blessing . . . or bad luck? In Scotland where it usually rains, you'd better take the former attitude. That's the theme of this story: How should you handle the unexpected?

The story moves forward on a number of fronts: Isabel develops an interest in an odd couple of Americans who turn out to be friends of her cousin; Cat has a new man in her life; Isabel and Jamie seem to drift closer together than either expected; Isabel helps Cat find some new help; and Isabel sets out to buy a home for Grace, her housekeeper. Each story element turns on the nature of male-female relations and examines those relations in different ways.

While there are the usual conundrums (What if someone misunderstands your purpose and offers you a bargain? What should you do if you think someone is in bad relationship? What's the right reaction when love offers itself?), there is actually more plot development in this story than in the previous two combined. I also liked the way that this book points out the limits of trying to lead with one's mental faculties. There is, after all, a strong emotional side to all of us.

I found my interest in the series to be greatly increased by this book. I'm very much looking forward to the next installment in the series.

Bravo!

The Examined Life Examined

Once upon a time philosophers dealt with practical questions of ethics: When is it appropriate to lie? When can you take another life? When may you be silent while another makes a mistake? Alexander McCall Smith returns us to those musings, dressed up in the clothing of a divorced woman, Isabel Dalhousie, dealing with her personal life and her profession as the editor of the Review of Applied Ethics. For those who like some intellectual depth with their stories, this series will be most rewarding. For those who want big laughs and ironies that make you instantly smile, go back to The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.

This is the third book in the series. In the prior books, Isabel shows herself to be a woman who likes to take her time to examine her behavior . . . before acting . . . and usually kicks herself when she doesn't let her intellect lead her. While being concerned about her niece, Cat, Isabel mostly is disappointed that Cat has rejected the handsome and worthy Jamie for a series of less good marital candidates. But Isabel has taken solace in keeping Jamie for a friend, while Jamie pines for the uninterested Cat.

When it rains, is that a blessing . . . or bad luck? In Scotland where it usually rains, you'd better take the former attitude. That's the theme of this story: How should you handle the unexpected?

The story moves forward on a number of fronts: Isabel develops an interest in an odd couple of Americans who turn out to be friends of her cousin; Cat has a new man in her life; Isabel and Jamie seem to drift closer together than either expected; Isabel helps Cat find some new help; and Isabel sets out to buy a home for Grace, her housekeeper. Each story element turns on the nature of male-female relations and examines those relations in different ways.

While there are the usual conundrums (What if someone misunderstands your purpose and offers you a bargain? What should you do if you think someone is in bad relationship? What's the right reaction when love offers itself?), there is actually more plot development in this story than in the previous two combined. I also liked the way that this book points out the limits of trying to lead with one's mental faculties. There is, after all, a strong emotional side to all of us.

I found my interest in the series to be greatly increased by this book. I'm very much looking forward to the next installment in the series.

Bravo!

Isabel Dalhousie returns, not a lot happens, but still a good book
Isabel returns in this, the third, in the Sunday Philosophy Club series of novels. The characters continue to grow on me, and so despite the minimalist central plot, I enjoyed this book more than the previous two.

Alexander McCall Smith doesn't need a thrill a second or cleverly twisting plot to offer us an enjoyable or enlightening read. His gentle writing provides us with a thought provoking observation on the moral dilemmas that some of us may encounter on our own journey through life, and the fact that the characters are perhaps a little too convenient doesn't matter. After all this is fiction.

If you enjoy McCall's Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency, you are very likely to enjoy the company of Isabel Dalhousie.