Joyfully Retired

The Dog Who Came In From The Cold

This week I started following along this serialized novel of Alexander McCall Smith. I hope you did too. It was fun to get to know a couple of the residents of Corduroy Mansions in Pimlico. Here are a few things that happened:

In this first week we spend most of our time with William French who lives on the top floor. He’s a widower, living alone now that his son has moved out. I thought the high point of the week for William was this: William had just been day-dreaming about finding a woman to spice up his life. He would prefer a woman who wears glasses, which he believes is a sign of intelligence. As if Fate had been listening in, a woman – in glasses – knocks on his door. And we meet Angelica – single – who turns out to work for M16. M16? Yikes! Isn’t that like James Bond’s M16?

I also had a chance to meet Caroline who lives in the flat below William’s. She’s a young woman who’s just finished her master’s at Sothebys and is starting a new job. It sounds like there might be the possibility of a new romance here as well with a young man who was also at Sothebys. He seems a little unsure of himself so I don’t know if he’s the right one for Caroline. What do you think??

If you aren’t following along with this serial novel, it’s not too late to join in. You only missed the first five chapters. Each chapter is very short – sort of like reading two blog posts. I’ll give you the link where you can catch up on the story to this point. You can read the online version or listen to the audio read by Andrew Sachs. Go HERE for either version.

Tell me what you think. Did you read along this week? What do you think of the M16 lady? What does she want? What about Caroline?