Book 1 in the hugely popular 44 Scotland Street series by worldwide bestselling author Alexander McCall SmithAlexander McCall Smith's delightful Scotland Street occupies a busy, bohemian corner of Edinburgh's New Town, where the old bourgeoisie rubs shoulders with students, poets and eccentrics. When Pat is accepted as a new tenant at number 44 Scotland Street, she isn't sure how long she'll last. Her flatmate Bruce, a rugby-playing chartered surveyor, is impossibly narcissistic, carelessly philandering and infuriatingly handsome. Downstairs lives pretentious Irene Pollock, whose five-year-old son is in therapy after setting fire to his father's copy of the Guardian. And watching over them all is shrewd, intellectual Domenica Macdonald, anthropologist and sharp-eyed observer of the household's activities...PRAISE FOR THE 44 SCOTLAND STREET SERIES:'Perfect escapist fiction' The Times'Simple, elegantly written and gently insightful' Good Book Guide'A joyous, charming portrait of city life and human foibles' Sunday Express'Does for Edinburgh what Armistead Maupin did for San Francisco... A light-hearted, genial soap opera' Financial Times