Online Book Club: The Dog Who Came in From the Cold by Alexander McCall Smith

A couple of years ago, I read Alexander McCall Smith’s The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, and it wasn’t really my cup of tea. My friend, Michelle, however, assured me that his novels set in England would be more my style, and so I read his online serialized novel Corduroy Mansions last year and enjoyed it very much.

I love the way McCall Smith writes characters – with all these little details and idiosyncrasies that make them seem truly human, and very humorous. While the novel is definitely not plot-driven, the serialized format doesn’t really need a well-defined plot. I would click over every weekday for the next installment, not to see what happened in the story, but to see what happened to the people.

I was thrilled to find out that McCall Smith was serializing a sequel online at The Telegraph, called The Dog Who Came in From the Cold. (Click the link to go to the official site and read the book.)

When I was invited to participate in an online book club for the new book, I happily agreed – it means I get chapters in advance! (Only I can’t talk about them – don’t want to give anything away.)

So far, The Dog Who Came in From the Cold has a more definite storyline, and it involves my favorite character, William French, the wine merchant who is finally enjoying having his home to himself after getting rid of his free-loader son. His dog, Freddie de la Hay, a Pimlico Terrier, has been called on by MI-6 to serve his country and collect intelligence from some Russians in Notting Hill.

If you click on over to the site, you can read the entire book to date – up to Chapter 25 – and also read descriptions of all of the characters.

One of my favorite things about McCall Smith’s characters is their witty observations about other people and life in general. Each of these little snippets give us such a clear picture of the character’s personality:

William had always found that walking encouraged thought. Unlike the unfortunate American president who waspish critics said found it difficult to walk and chew gum at the same time, William could walk and think very effectively. He did not chew gum, of course, and indeed chewing gum was one of his pet hates.

“People look so bovine when they chew gum,” he said to Marcia once. “Like cows chewing the cud.”

He always welcomed the surplus snacks that Marcia brought him, and indeed had once remarked
that he could live almost entirely off the scraps from her table. This pleased Marcia. She had been brought up by her very domesticated mother to believe that of all the satisfactions open to women, feeding men was ultimately the most profound. She knew that this was, quite simply, wrong, but the beliefs instilled in childhood and youth are hard to dislodge, and Marcia had eventually stopped fighting the convictions that lay deep within her.

“I know I’m pathetic,” she once said to a friend. “I know that I should be all independent and self-sufficient and so on, but that’s just not me. I want to feed men. I just love putting large plates of food in front of them. I love it.” She paused. “Does that mean there’s something wrong with me?”

Her friend looked at her pityingly. “Yes,” she said. “It makes you inauthentic, Marcia.”

Marcia winced. “Does it really?”

The friend nodded. “Yes, it does. You have to live for yourself, you know. You have to do things that fulfil you, not others. Women are not there to look after men.”

Marcia thought about this. “But who’ll look after them if we don’t?” she asked.

Isn’t that fun? I’ll be posting more about The Dog Who Came in From the Cold in the future, but don’t wait – click on over to read for yourself.