BERTIE'S GUIDE TO LIFE AND MOTHERS by Alexander McCall Smith

It's not that poor Bertie Pollock is wishing his life away, but having anticipated his seventh birthday for so long he's now longing to be eighteen.  At eighteen he probably won't be having a 'gender neutral' birthday; it probably won't be gatecrashed by Tofu (a thug), Olive and Pansy (manipulative), and Ronald Braveheart Mcpherson (nervous).  And at eighteen he can definitely leave his eternally pushy yet endlessly smothering mother, Irene.  What bliss!  But before then there's a lot of living to do and Bertie is not alone amongst the residents of Scotland Street in trying to do just that - with mixed fortunes.

Angus Lordie, painter and sometime somnambulist, must just be sleepwalking into trouble with the animal welfare inspectorate over his faithful hound Cyril's drinking habits.  Having triplets named Rognvald, Tobermory and Fergus would be enough for most parents, but Matthew and Elspeth are also having to contend with Danish au pairs and dubious dukes.  And seeming to have recovered from being dumped and his doppelganger encounter, the hopelessly narcisistic Bruce might be facing his greatest challenge in the form of a 'waxologist'.

But as ever, when fate visits 44 Scotland Street that's when the real fun begins.  And not even Bertie, with all his life experience, could foretell that it would take the form of Sister Maria-Fiore dei Fiori di Montagna and a literary festival in Dubai.

Hard cover with dust jacket, in excellent condition.