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Book Review

‘The Forgotten Affairs of Youth’ by Alexander McCall Smith

By Clea Simon

 |   

  December 17, 2011

Life is full of mystery, and for Alexander McCall Smith even everyday enigmas can provide a compelling challenge for the engaged observer. That’s the premise behind the author’s Isabel Dalhousie series, perhaps more so than ever in the eighth and latest installment, “The Forgotten Affairs of Youth.’’ This time, Isabel tries to help a colleague, Jane Cooper, a philosopher who has returned to Scotland on sabbatical, to track her birth father in the hope of gaining some semblance of belonging.

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