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La's Orchestra Saves the World | 
 enlarge | Author: Alexander Mccall Smith
Publisher: Polygon An Imprint of Birlinn Limited
Category: Book
List Price: £14.99
Buy New: £7.53
You Save: £7.46 (50%)
New (19) Used (6) Collectible (1) from £6.45
Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 12655
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.1
ISBN: 184697092X
EAN: 9781846970924
ASIN: 184697092X
Publication Date: November 1, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Maybe not vintage McCall Smith but still worth reading December 28, 2008
Damaskcat (UK)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
La - short for Lavender - retreats to rural Suffolk after a failed marriage. It is shortly before the outbreak of World War II. She settles into rural life and domesticity until she feels she needs to make some sort of contribution to the war effort even though she has enough money not to need to work after the death of her husband. She agrees to work without pay for a local farmer - the cantankerous Henry - looking after his hens. Then she meets Feliks - a Polish pilot who is grounded because he lost the sight in one eye during a mission - who also goes to work for Henry. As a result of talking to Feliks La hits upon the idea of starting an orchestra made up of local people and members of the RAF from a nearby base. It is this orchestra which keeps the community going. How La's relationships develop and what happens to the orchestra makes for an interesting plot. It is a gentle moral story with Alexander McCall Smith's customary light touch. I enjoyed it even though it is not in quite the same class as 44 Scotland Street or the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency.
Not quite vintage McCall November 26, 2008
Alun Williams (Peterborough,England)
15 out of 16 found this review helpful
Finding a new Alexander McCall Smith book in my local book shop is always a pleasure. He is almost the only current writer whose books I will buy in hardback without any misgiving and without knowing anything about the book first. But, lately, he seems to be getting ever more prolific.
Mostly set in my favourite county, Suffolk, with most of the action (such as it is) during the World War II, this is the kind of book that would make an excellent short TV period drama series (or maybe just a single long drama). It's nice to have a one off novel from this writer for a change, as Precious Ramotswe and Isabel Dalhousie will soon need a bookshelf all to themselves in my house. I enjoyed the story this book tells, but like the other reviewer I found the ending somewhat underdone and unsatisfactory. None of the characters in this book really stand out: the charm definitely lies more in the evocation of a lost time and way of life. This is not really vivid enough to make the book unmissable, but overall I'm happy enough to have this book and will probably enjoy reading it again some time.
 Sweetly old fashioned November 17, 2008
Julia Flyte (Seattle)
23 out of 23 found this review helpful
This is a sweetly old fashioned story set in Suffolk during the Second World War. The heroine, La (it's short for Lavender), moves to the country after her marriage ends. Initially she's very lonely, but gradually she builds relationships and then she has the idea of forming an orchestra for members of the nearby air base as well as for the local villagers. At the same time, the book is about her relationship with a Polish worker (Feliks), for whom she has an unrequited love while also harbouring doubts about his background.
The book starts slowly, spending a lot of time on La's back story. The orchestra is only formed at the half way mark. I found the central part (during the war) very involving, but then it slows right down again after the war ends. McCall Smith does a good job of building suspense about Feliks, but then he lets it dissipate so that when we do eventually find out the truth, we're past caring. There is also one chapter towards the end when the narrative switches to La's point of view and which pre-empts any tension about what might happen when she meets up with her Pole in the next chapter. I felt that there should have been a better way to integrate La's thoughts into the book.
La is a curiously bland and passive character - neither as engaging nor as pro-active as Precious Ramotswe or Isabel Dalhousie. In fact, none of the characters ever came alive for me, although I did really enjoy the way that it captured life in the English countryside at that time. It's an enjoyable story, but it needed to be tightened and it badly needed a better structure. It pains me to be critical because I do love Alexander McCall Smith's writing, but this one felt like it was rushed out for Christmas rather than going back for another re-write.
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