MORTAL CAUSES

Ian Rankin. MORTAL CAUSES: An Inspector Rebus Novel. Orion, 1994.

It's at least five years before the Good Friday Peace Agreement in Northern Ireland. Around the fringes of Edinburgh's Fringe Festival, sectarian criminals are stockpiling weapons in Scotland to arm for the anticipated civil war. Big Ger Cafferty has escaped from prison. Rebus is still living with Dr. Patience and still driving his old car. I still love Rebus.

The GUYND: A Scottish Journal

The GUYND: A Scottish Journal. Belinda Rathbone. Norton, 2005.

I chose this memoir at a local library book sale for several reasons:  

1. I've been reading widely in memoir as background for my current CNF-in-progress; 
2. I love reading about Scotland (Ian Rankin, Alan Cumming) and this story sounded a bit like Monarch of the Glen; it is about marrying a Scottish laird some fifteen years her senior and moving into his crumbling mansion north of Edinburgh.
3. I love houses and interior design (decorating); 
4. I'm curious about why/how couples get together; 
5. I'm curious about cross-cultural interactions (here, American vs Scots; female vs. male); 
6. I'm curious about how/why relationships end.

I would say that my curiosity was satisfied with 5 of 6 of the above. As for the relationship ending, the reader is left to infer, which is probably sore subtle, more respectful of the other parent of your child, and not really part of the story. Enough said that it seems inevitable, and it involves awakening self-awareness on the part of the narrator. 

I certainly enjoyed the story, partly, no doubt, because it confirms my belief that renovations/restoration projects are always fatal.