DebJpole Hello,
Me again! Something a bit different now. An Isabel Dalhousie novel. Now this book is a part of a series but this is the first book that I’ve read but I find it does well as a stand alone novel too.
Anyway back to the book in hand, Isabel is a Scot born and bred, living in Edinburgh, Isabel thinks often of friends, chocolate and occasionally a lover. As a philosopher, there’s no doubting where she stands. Or is there?
“We never know enough about another person to be him or her. We think we do, but we can never be sure.”
Isabel can easily and concisely review books and articles but finds real life is a bit more challenging, especially when it comes to her feelings for a young musician called Jamie, who should have married her niece Cat and still continues to carry a flame for her.
“When we love others, we naturally want to talk about them, we want to show them off, like emotional trophies. We invest them with a power to do to others what they do to us; a vain hope, as the lovers of others are rarely of much interest to us.”
When Isabel encourages Cat to take a break in Italy, Isabel finds herself in charge of Cat’s delicatessen. She soon finds herself in conversation with a customer, Ian who she discovers has recently had a heart transplant.
“If we treated others with the consideration that one would give to those who had only a few days to live, then we would be kinder, at least.”
Instead of being overjoyed with this new chance at a life, Ian reveals to Isabel that he is being plagued by memories; memories that can’t be rationally explained, memories that don’t belong to him.
“People stuck by others for years and years, in the face of all odds, and it should be relief, not disbelief, that one felt on witnessing it. ”
Isabel is intrigued to say the least. She soon finds herself entering into a risky investigation where she finds herself questioning everything she knows; is the heart truly the seat of the soul? But it also provides another question, are these memories part of the previous owners demise?
“The finding of a single white crow would disprove the theory that all crows are black. It’s quite a pithy way of making the point that it won’t take much to disprove something which we take as absolutely firmly established.”
I wasn’t overly fussed by this book. It didn’t hook me and pull me in, and make me not want to put it down. Whilst the plot line sounded very intriguing the actual investigation seemed to almost get forgotten in the midst of everything else going on the book.
It was enjoyable and an easy read but only 2/5 stars.
Find it on Amazon:
Until next time,
Keep reading,
D x
Shame… surely just the inclusion of chocolate should have given it half a star on its own.
It’s not as included as I’d like!?
I recently reviewed “The Chocolate Maker’s Wife” and that book has LOTS of chocolate in it.
Now that sounds like a book I can get my teeth in to!
At over 600 pages, there’s a lot to fill you up!