The Novel Habits of Happiness

Starred review from June 1, 2015
No writer makes the philosophical life as inviting and cozy as Smith does in his episodic novels featuring Isabel Dalhousie. In her native Edinburgh, Isabel fills many roles: editor of The Review of Applied Ethics, mother of Charlie, partner of Jamie, and solver of mysteries. When people in Isabel’s circle have troubles, they come to her (“I am a recipient of unusual confidences,” she says to herself). In this 10th installment (after 2012’s The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds), six-year-old Harry is “convinced that he’s had another life,” complete with another family and a house with a red door near a lighthouse. Isabel looks into this odd situation with her usual efficiency, ready intelligence, and highly sympathetic nature. Smith adds a modicum of narrative energy with a subplot about a minor academic feud, but plot isn’t the point. The real substance of this charming series lies in Isabel’s thoughtful observations and the interactions among a large cast of characters. Agent: Robin Straus, Robin Straus Agency.