Corduroy Mansion

In an effort to make my new, tiny library work for me, I took a gander at their "new releases" section for my next read. If you think 2009 makes a book 'new' then you came to the right place! However, I hadn't ever read anything by Alexander McCall Smith. He wrote the popular No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, which I probably should have started with.

Corduroy Mansions takes place in England. It delves into the lives of all the tenants in Corduroy Mansion, a large apartment building in Pimlico. There's a wine purveyor, the woman who wants to live with him, and his grown son whom he wishes would find a place of his own. The mother of a member of Parliament, whom everyone despises (the MP, not the mother). A number of 20-something gals in one flat of various careers. Etc. and so on. Oh, and a curious dog named Freddie de la Hay.

Honestly, I would try to give you an actual synopsis but I really can't. I have no idea what the central theme of this book was. When you have an ensemble cast such as this, there's usually a common thread among there stories. Corduroy Mansion had some of that but not to the level that I would have liked to see. The main extent of their commonality was the fact that they all lived together in this building. Maybe that was the whole point and I just missed it.

Upon further research, I found out that this is the first in a series. I just was not all that invested in any of the characters to continue reading this at all. I should give Alexander McCall Smith another shot some other time. Oh, and to add insult to literary injury, I had to get this in LARGE PRINT. I felt like an idiot reading it.

SKIP IT!

Rating: * 1/2

P.S. I think this is only my 7th read for the year. I better get on the stick!