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August 2024

Friends we share – a Birthday post

Date Published: 24th August 2024

This picture was taken by my daughter, Lucy, and she has now put it on a birthday card. It shows me with the antenna for the radio I have at our house in the Highlands of Scotland. I fire it up from time to time (I am a licensed radio operator, as it happens!) in […]

Edinburgh International Book Festival returns to full strength in new venue

Date Published: 20th August 2024

Alexander McCall Smith returned to the Edinburgh International Book Festival yesterday for a sold-out event in their main theatre-space, in conversation with author and broadcaster and new Chair of the festival, Jamie Crawford. The event was a triumph with introductions to thee new books: The Perfect Passion Company, The Winds from Further West and the […]

Alexander McCall Smith at Tobermory Book Festival, Mull (UK)

Date: 25 October 2024

Venue: Western Isles Hotel, Tobermory

Time: 4.30pm

Picking up the pieces of his life, Dr Neil Anderson finds his way to Mull from Edinburgh, where two wolf cubs and local vet Katie change his life. Sandy’s love of the west shines through in this novel, written in his customary beautiful prose. Over the years he has been a regular guest at our […]

An evening with Alexander McCall Smith at Daunt Books, Marylebone (UK)

Date: 3 October 2024

Venue: Daunt's Marylebone, London

Time: 7.00pm

Join worldwide best-selling author Alexander McCall Smith for an evening of sheer delight. Travel with the master storyteller to catch up with Mma Ramotswe in Botswana as he discusses his latest No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency novel, The Great Hippopotamus Hotel. Then allow Alexander to transport you to the west coast of Scotland, the setting for his new […]

An Afternoon with Alexander McCall Smith hosted by Four Bears Books, Caversham UK

Date: 3 October 2024

Venue: Caversham Baptist Church, 1 Prospect St, Caversham, Reading RG4 8JB, UK

Time: 2.00pm

Join worldwide best-selling author Alexander McCall Smith for an afternoon of sheer delight. Travel with the master storyteller to catch up with Mma Ramotswe in Botswana as he discusses his latest No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency novel, The Great Hippopotamus Hotel. Then allow Alexander to transport you to the west coast of Scotland, the setting for his new […]

Top TRIPADVISOR Award for Great Tapestry of Scotland

Date Published: 1st August 2024

Today, Tripadvisor recognised The Great Tapestry of Scotland in Galashiels as one of travellers’ favourite businesses around the world, based on reviews and rating collected over 12 months. The award-winning attraction in the Scottish Borders is in the Top 10% of things to do WORLDWIDE! Huge congratulations to Sandy Maxwell Forbes and her outstanding team in Galashiels. […]

A story for August: The Winds from Further West

The following is an extract from the beginning of Alexander’s brand new stand-alone novel, The Winds from Further West. ___________________________ Almost everything starts in a small way. There is no shortage of examples – and attendant metaphors: rivers begin with a trickle of water in a remote upland; oaks emerge from nothing bigger than an […]