La's Orchestra Saves the World

It's no secret that I love Alexander McCall Smith. I think his No.1 Ladies Detective Agency series is pretty darn near close to perfection. In La's Orchestra Saves the World he writes with the same simple, pure style that he does in his other books and it works so well. I always feel as if life slows down and I can, figuratively speaking, smell the roses when I read one of his novels. I love the feeling of peace and calm I get and how he always finds the gentleness and kindness in people, no matter their nationality or circumstances. Despite living in heart-breaking times and having a life that isn't filled with perfect scenarios, Lavender (La) crafts a corner out of her small world in Suffolk and lives through the horror of WWII doing what she can to help. I found it fascinating that, in reading through the book, the little things she was doing seemed .. somewhat small and inconsequential to me, the reader. That's not to say I didn't appreciate them, they were just things that seemed normal and things I would hope I would have done if I had lived during that time period. After putting the book down and thinking about it for a bit though, those small, seemingly inconsequential things start to grow and I started to realize how much the story of La meant. I always think that my small actions won't make that much of a difference and sometimes get discouraged - but every little thing does help. And I think that's what this story is all about. Over the last several months I've read quite a few WWII books dealing with the Polish and I know this ranks up there as one I'll read again. I'd recommend this book to anyone, just as I have with Smith's other books. It doesn't take long to read and it's worth every minute invested.

Very good and interesting book. A tale of a small piece of England during WWII. La (short for Lavender) leads an ordinary life in London and eventually ends up in Suffolk. She helps the war effort by tending hens on a neighbor's farm. Through a fellow (Tim) she places Feliks into the same farm to assist the arthiritic owner. She grows very fond of Feliks and also suspicious of his "Polish" background. Her orchestra, thrown together from the RAF base nearby and several towns nearby, help the morale of the whole area during this time of woe."

I love AMSmith books. This is different from his others in that it is stand alone. La is a woman of her time (WW2) who does the right thing all the time. I won't give away more but if you like his other books you will like this.

Alexander McCall Smith has a magical way with heroines and his new stand-alone novel is no exception. I'm sorry some reviewers here seem to think otherwise. I'm guessing their disappointments result from comparisons to the author's fiercely independent 21st century heroines Mma Ramotswe and Isabel Dalhousie. Which is understandable, but perhaps unfair. This novel is set in the gray and worried world of World War II England, a whole 'nother time to be a woman. La (short for Lavender) Stone is a faithfully rendered woman of her time and, within that context, an unusually independent and admirable one. I dunno, maybe you have to be over-the-hill to recognize and appreciate the bravery of La's "you go, girl" moments and hard won triumphs over loneliness and longing. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with her and the novel's depiction of a place and people now gone. And I can't help but imagine what a delightful black and white movie it might make. I was at a book fair last year where McCall Smith was asked which was his favorite character. "Bertie," said he. But from the kindly way he treats her--particularly considering that he gave her an orchestra (he has one of his own, you know)--I'm guessing he loves La nearly as much. So do I. And I wish the same to you.

Gentle, But Profound By Charles Jacobs, author of "The Writer Within You", a Best-Books-of-the-Year selection Alexander McCall Smith has woven a delightful tapestry of gentility and passion that reveals the pain suffered by the "average Joes" of England during the early days of Hitler's ravaging attacks across the Channel. This gentle tale transports the reader through the many joys and disappointments of Lavender (better known as La) Stone's young life. Deserted by the husband she has come to love deeply, she abandons London society for the solitude of a tiny, rural village in Suffolk. Her planned solitude is soon upended by the pressing need for support of the war effort. In response, La joins the Womens' Land Army, immerses herself in the local farming community to help meet the food shortages caused by the war and is intrigued by the transition she experiences from the world of London gentry to the simplicity of peasant life. This most unusual woman finds a way to marry both traditions by mining the latent interest in music that she discovers among the residents of Suffolk and the airmen of the nearby RAF base. The rag-tag orchestra she creates imbues the area with a new sense of stability and hope as the tide of war seems to threaten the future of grand old England. The story takes on a bit of intrigue with the appearance of an alleged displaced pilot from the Polish airforce that has been destroyed by the Nazi invaders. His arrival adds still another dimension to the remarkable life of the book's heroine. This is a story of hope, kindness, determination and love among a very disparate group of characters played out against the backdrop of war-ravaged England.