I have been meaning to read Alexander McCall Smith for quite some time now. Though I don't know if this is the best book to start reading him, I picked this one up just for getting into what makes ACS tick.

I feel it is the simple way he narrates stories. Some stories were really good, while some were not much so, but I got a great idea about the brains behind the words. The way he paints a picture is gentle and soothing. No wonder he is still quite a great author.

3.5 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for the ARC.

DNF. I just couldn't get into this one. I may try again on audiobook.

Thank you to the publisher for providing this ebook.

I really enjoyed the stories.

Pianos and Flowers is a collection of fourteen captivating tales all inspired by photos from the Times of London archive. It is a mix of tales about love, friendship, life, travel and romance. 

I highly recommend this book

Pianos and Flowers is a book of short stories, based on old, unidentified photographs. Alexander McCall Smith, inspired by the photographs, imagined and wrote a background to them, creating a little window into these lives in the past.

I forgot how much I love reading short stories. I love the peak it gives you into the characters' lives--not a full life-story with epic story arcs or years of character growth, but a brief picture into the everyday lives of the characters and the responses and emotions with them.

As I looked at each photo before the story began, I would try to think what the story would be. But most of the time, I was surprised by the aspects of the story that Smith picked up and developed. Most of them were set around the beginning of the 20th century, which I absolutely loved. Many of the stories took turns I wasn't expecting, some were short time periods of life, some were highlights from years before and after the photo was taken. Each story drew you in quickly, and I wasn't ready for it to end, even though each one had reached a good conclusion.,

While we don't know the real stories behind the photos, I loved joining in the process of imagining what stories lie behind them.

First of all, I need to admit that I couldn't actually finish this book 🙈 not because I didn't like it, but because it expired before I could.
However, I did love the idea of using photographs to come up with stories. I am a sucker for vintage things and nostalgia - so seeing the photos were actually adorable.
But because I did not read the whole thing, I don't think it would be fair for me to write a whole review...

This book is a collection of short stories based on vintage photographs, presenting a variety of life stories or vignettes jumping from the photos. It's a bit uneven, I loved some stories but some I found rather meandering, headhoppy and difficult to concentrate on. My favorites were the anxious husband who prepared for disasters and the street sweepers.

A collection of romantic stories, some of which I liked more than others. Well written.
Many thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is my first book by Alexander McCall Smith. I know, I know. He's been on my TBR forever, but I haven't actually read his mysteries.

I have always loved the idea of using photographs as inspiration for writing. When I was a teenager, I bought a ziplock bag with black and white photos at an antique shop in Old San Juan and I have always wanted to be able to write their story. This concept is what drew me to Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and what made me request an ARC for this book when I saw it available.

Brief encounters of the romantic kind. Yes, these stories were both brief, but some of them stretch the definition of "romantic kind." Nevertheless, they were memorable. My favorites were "Sphinx," "Iron Jelloids," "Zeugma" (though this may just be because I learned a new word), and "St. John's Wort." Although I very much enjoyed the resolution of "Blackmail."

All in all, a solid collection of short stories that made me want to check out the author's Chance Developments: Unexpected Love Stories

A full star just because this was a brilliant way to develop short stories - using sepia, old pictures to create a story.
Also, because it is Alexander mccall smith and i admit i am a little biased when it comes to him.
It does have his style of writing that I love but honestly, it is not a title i would have purchased. Borrowed or received the proof yes, otherwise no.
Took me a while to get into it in spite of being a brilliant writing style but it got a tad dry after a bit so i had to read something else.
Got better midway.

Time with Alexander McCall Smith is always time well-spent. The author of many series, McCall Smith generally tells gentle stories with warmth and feeling. Some most enjoy the Lady Detectives, while for others, it is Bertie. Personally, my favorite is the series with Isabel Dalhousie. This title features none of the above but will be enjoyed by readers nonetheless.

This collection of fourteen stories is unique. For each, the author looked at a photo from a real newspaper archive. He then imagined a tale to go with each portrait. Readers can enjoy McCall Smith’s vivid imagination and conjuring while also imagining what stories they might write about these same pictures. All in all, a lovely read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

These are charming, and mostly soothing stories which are sometimes witty, such as the one about Iron Jelluloid tablets. Occasionally they have an edge, for example, there is a story about a secretly gay man and there are tales about poverty. Alexander McCall Smith always writes simply and beautifully, and manages to put layers of meaning into a few words.

These clever stories concern the imagained lives of people in photos from the Times of London archives. It's a brilliant idea and they are certainly enjoyable. I hope that he continues to write this kind of story, and that other writers will take up the idea.

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

When the pressures of the world weigh on me, Alexander McCall Smith is one of my go to authors. Apparently, this happens fairly regularly as I am well into double digit AMS. The 44 Scotland Street series is my favorite, especially when Bertie and his neurotic family take center stage. After reading an excerpt of Pianos and Flowers, I wanted more. Each story is based on a single vintage photograph and, as always, AMS tenderly portrays the hearts and lives of his characters. Short stories are atypical fare for me but these enchanting stories about everyday people and their lives have earned space on my bookshelf. The Pianos and Flowers stories are best savored one or two at a time and are for perfect bedtime reading. Thank you to Knopf Doubleday for providing a copy for my enjoyment and review.

Pianos and Flowers

by Alexander McCall Smith

It is not uncommon for teachers to present students with a photograph and ask them to write about it. The result is usually nonfiction and descriptive of what is seen in the picture. The Sunday Times asked Alexander McCall Smith, the Scottish writer famous for his No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series set in Botswana, to select photographs from their archives of everyday people in everyday settings. He then created short stories, one for each picture, which fictionalized what was happening to the people in the picture as well as their background. The result is a collection of unrelated stories that bring these people to life. Naturally some appealed to me more than others. “Sphinx” is a gentle romance set in the 1930’s. “Pianos and Flowers” is about Brits working and living in China and how it affected their families. “Architect” had interesting observations about family relationships and culminated in a surprise ending. “Urchins” contained sad stories about the plight of the pictured street urchins and what the future held for them. I smile as I recall “St. John’s Wort,” the story of a retired man who was worried about everything. A friend of the wife gave her some timely advice. As you can see, each story in Pianos and Flowers is unique. There was only one story of the fourteen that I actually noted as not liking.

I read these at the rate of one or two stories a night at bedtime. They were a nice way to end the day on a calm and gentle note.

I would like to extend my thanks to NetGalley and to Knopf Doubleday (Pantheon) for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 5/5

Category: Short Stories

Publication: January 19, 2021— Knopf Doubleday (Pantheon)

Notes: The Subtitle is Brief Encounters of the Romantic Kind, but I found that to be a misnomer. The stories are fictionalized snippets of life so there is some romance, but not very much.

Memorable Lines:

Parents are inexplicably embarrassing to sixteen-year-olds—they always have been.

We belittle the things we secretly want ourselves.

“A metaphor must be strange—it must make us sit up and take notice in a way in which a literal expression does not.”

A wonderfully written collection of stories created from simple photographs.
The author’s creativity really shines through with this gorgeous collection and I loved every word of it!
I wish it were a longer book though and rest assured I want to read every single of McCall Smith’s books.

Pianos and Flowers
By Alexander McCall Smith




A Surprise out of the Ordinary!



The combination of a fertile mind and a few photographs from the past join to create a pleasurable volume of individual short stories that hold your interest from the first to the last. Not the standard novel format with a beginning and an ending but a series of self standing events created by the author totally from his mind based upon antique photos will hold your interest. The snippets of revelation from Mr. Smith's mind are, I'm sure, no where near the actual events portrayed in the photographs but run the gamut of emotion and each will delight you in it's own way. Haven't we all created pictures in our own minds based upon visuals we have encountered? Take a look at What Mr. Smith sees!



Spencer Birt

Pianos and Flowers is a collection of fourteen captivating tales all inspired by photos from the Times of London archive. It is a mix of tales about love, friendship, life, travel and romance. Some are profound, others are insightful though all are interesting and engaging to varying degrees. My favourite stories were "The Dwarf Tale-Teller of the Romanian Rom" and "Blackmail" but all of them were good. Highly recommended.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Pantheon via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

This was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it. thanks for letting me have an advance copy. I'm new to this author.

Well, heck. I have so loved this author’s most famous #1 Ladies Detective series, and more recently have loved his new, satirical series starring Mr. Varg. When I saw this stand-alone collection of short stories—a genre I enjoy—I leapt at the chance to read and review it. My thanks go to Net Galley and Doubleday, but this one fell flat for me.

The collection is scaffolded by vintage photographs from The Sunday Times. Smith provides one of these photos at the start of every story, and then writes something (fictional) about the people and events displayed. I am initially deflated by these, thinking it might be a good fit for some readers, but for me more of a cure for insomnia, because Zzzzzz, when I find the italicized portion, which is intended to be a you-are-there insert. Why, why, why does every Caucasian reader under the sun think that the best way to add some World War II spice to a story, is to interject some of the racist slurs used widely at that time against Japanese people? True, it was a much more mainstream practice back then for white people to use nasty, racist terms to describe anybody and everybody that wasn’t Caucasian; you weren’t entirely safe if you were from Eastern or Southern Europe, so predominant was this tendency. Yet every author understands that if your book is to see wide circulation, you’d better not go tossing anti-Black references in as casual conversational terms. But ah—the Japanese! Now, that’s different. The Japanese don’t fight back all that much, so probably it means they don’t care. (Pause while I retch for a moment or two.)

This cheap-and-easy bit of vile, racist pop culture took this collection down from three stars to two. However, I can assure the reader that had it initially been a four or five star read, it would nevertheless have dropped to an unfriendly rating when I ran across such ugly language.

I am so done with that.

This thing is for sale if you really want it.

3.5★
“She is smiling, the young woman perched on the cross-bar; she is smiling broadly as they follow the tram lines.
. . .
She did not know what possessed her to accept a ride into work from Professor Mactaggart. She barely knew him, although she had seen him in the library, of course, when he came in to request a book from the special collection, or to trace an obscure reference to the work of some philologist nobody had ever heard of.”

This the picture that is illustrated on the cover of the edition of the book I’ve just read. It’s a cheery, happy photograph, one of the early twentieth century photographs the author chose from ‘The Sunday Times’ archives to tell us a story about.

Photograph that inspired “Zeugma”

I enjoy word play, and it was nice seeing these probably ‘proper’ people having a bit of spontaneous fun. He was headed for the library on his bicycle and stops to offer her a lift, knowing she works there. It’s a long walk, so she accepts. He begins chatting to her.

“‘Bearing in mind that neither of us had really planned this, one might perhaps say: “She was carried into town on a cross-bar and a whim.”

She smiled. And that is the smile we see in the photograph.

But then the Professor continued, “On a cross-bar and a whim.” Do you know what that is?’

She shook her head.

‘It’s a zeugma,’ said the Professor. ‘It’s a well-known figure of speech. The classic example is, "She went straight home, in a flood of tears and a sedan chair." That’s Dickens, no less.

. . . The essence of a zeugma is the contrast between a literal expression and a metaphor.’”

He apologises for boring her, but she’s interested, and so was I. They went on to make up silly metaphors that brightened the day for both of them. I liked their characters, and I didn’t mind that McCall Smith might have been showing off his erudition, since it was all so good-natured.

There’s a baker’s dozen of stories here, and like any selection of bakery goodies, some are very plain bread rolls, some are substantial pies, and some are deliciously perfect treats, if you’ll pardon my metaphorical silliness. My favourite was one of the delicious ones, Blackmail, where two streetsweepers compare notes and conspire to right a wrong.

Photograph of streetsweepers and pedestrians

They happen to meet at a corner to rest on their brooms and chat. They make the best of their lot.

“‘The good thing about this job,’ said Nell, ‘is that you’re right at the bottom of the heap. After this, you can’t exactly fall any lower.’

They wonder what people mean by the phrases they overhear.

“‘I came round the corner one day and there were two women standing on the pavement saying goodbye to one another. And the one said to the other, “Send me a postcard when the baby can say banana.”

Harry chuckled. ‘Well, well …’

‘Joe and I often say that when we take leave of one another. Send me a postcard when the baby can say banana.”

They become observant and Nell points out to Harry a well-dressed man she’s seen meet a young woman “all lovey-dovey” at the café every day. She tells him that today, the man is talking to another fellow who is a café regular – because he’s spying on likely targets for blackmail.

“Harry let out a whistle. ‘You really know your patch,’ he said.

Nell looked proud. ‘I keep my eyes open.’”

So open, in fact, that she knows the blackmailer has spotted the wife with his target today, and is now pouncing to exact a price for his silence.

I will not give the ending away, other than to say it was delicious!

There’s one about an architect whose mother thinks he just draws stuff and she reckons she could do as good a job as he does – with disastrous consequences. Quite funny.

Some stories are tender and thoughtful and some go down too many side tracks to hold my interest, but the good ones are worth the price of admission. McCall Smith has a great imagination so you never know where he’ll take you, but you know you’ll enjoy the trip. (Send me a postcard when the baby can say banana!)

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for the review copy from which I’ve quoted and copied a couple of photographs.

This was an interesting concept. Some of the stories were cute and clever, but overall this was not one of my favorites by this author. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.