I (very late to the game) just recently discovered Alexander McCall Smith. I was ecstatic to get access to reading this collection of short stories. Looking at each photo I tried to come up with my own take and it never came close to what I came to read. My favorite were Duty, Students, Iron Jelloids and Maternal Designs. Smith really takes the photo and runs with the story.

This collection of short stories is based upon a series of old photographs. The author imagines the people and situations taking place in the photograph. Some stories were more interesting than other ones, and with only a few pages long, you just get a glimpse of each character or characters and their story.

The author certainly has imagination, going from a picture to a story like this. The stories are well written, but they seem rather ordinary and not that interesting.

What a charming, sometimes sad, moving and whimsical collection of short stories. Based around photographs from The Times archives, Alexander McCall Smith bids us step inside the photographs and explore the lives contained within . I must admit I often find myself doing the same when I look at old photos and the moments frozen in time. McCall Smith brings his own brand of genius to his interpretation. In his inimitable way, he sketches his pen portraits with finesse and depth so we become immersed in the lives portrayed. Each so different, from the wilds of Scotland to the battlefields of both world wars, be it in Europe or Malaysia or Singapore, he transports us with a few deft strokes of his pen. Sheer genius!

Pianos and Flowers, Brief Encounters of the Romantic Kind, is classic Alexander McCall Smith. His new collection of short stories about life and romance, inspired by vintage photos from The London Sunday Times photographic archive, showcases his brilliance and wit. While many of the stories were compelling—I’d Cry Buckets, Sphinx, Duty, and Iron Jelloids—I was lukewarm about a few of the others. However, I respect the immense talent it takes to see a picture of ordinary people for the first time and draw the reader in with a tale of what might be happening, while going off on his usual humorous and charming tangents. I prefer his 44 Scotland Street novels (the latest—The Peppermint Tea Chronicles), which are superb, so I thought I’d give this one a chance. Any fan of Alexander McCall Smith will enjoy this book.

I am not a big fan of short stories, but I am a big fan for Alexander McCall Smith, so I was curious as to which would win out. The problem with short stories is that you only just to know the characters and understand the situation, and then they end. That was also the case with these. Nevertheless, McCall Smith does such an incredible job of bringing the characters to life in just a few strokes of the pen, and he exhibits such amazing imagination in filling in a whole situation from one image that it makes up for the format.

Disclaimer: This book was a free copy from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Pianos and Flowers, Brief Encounters of the Romantic Kind, this book title, is as promising as the stories themselves. Black and white photographs were selected from the photographic archives of the The Sunday Times by the author to envision a story he would bring to life in words.
The backgrounds feel simple and spare with posed characters. You may not see much to draw you in, but oh the stories McCall Smith weaves.
Like a Wikipedia biographical entry or a lengthy museum catalogue narrative, you absorb a detailed narrative of settings and observations and nuanced characterizations of relationships and encounters to arrive at an obvious yet unexpected ending.
You will most likely say to yourself, with some delight, of course that’s what it was all about! The photographs are worth all the thousand words of Alexander McCall Smith.

I had higher expectations going into this book of shorts. I expected “Modern Love” meets “Paris for One”.
There were a lot of short stories and they were very beautifully written. Sometimes each character in the picture got a shout out and sometimes the story followed each person pictured.
I am glad I read these stories as they were beautiful and I’m sure they will stay with me or I will be reminded of them when I least expect it.

I loved these slice of life vignettes based on photographs. Such an intriguing twist to the short story genre that made the characters come alive. I have long been a fan of McCall Smith’s work and I think this is one of his best works

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

McCall Smith's charming style and incisive eye brings this collection of short stories to life. Populated by a variety of characters of every social context and way of life, with dreams and objectives of their own, we each of these people and learn about what led them to the very moment their photograph was taken (or what the author playfully imagines!). It is very light and easy to read, entertaining and amusing. The stories are very different, but their unity is accomplished by McCall Smith's distinctive narrative voice.

An unusual read. A collection of short stories based upon old photos featured in a newspaper, the author has made up stories to reflect what might be going on behind the scenes.

Short story collection inspired by newspaper photos. However most of the stories felt that they were meant as a writing exercise rather than to be enjoyed by the reader. Most of the stories went into detail about who, what, where, etc was in the photograph rather than just jumping into the actual story. There were a few gems. I really enjoyed the one about the gypsies. I think this book would only be for the most avid McCall Smith fan.

Have you ever looked at old photographs and created stories for the people and places who in the photos? I admit I do this often and if you enjoy doing this too, you will enjoy this book.

Each chapter is dedicated to a different story - some are happy, full of love and adventure, and yet others have some truly tragic plot lines, but each story creates a brilliant narrative.

I enjoyed this fun book and am left with a few ideas to incorporate into my own daydreams when viewing old photographs.

In this imaginative collection of short stories Alexander McCall Smith was given access to the The Sunday Times photography archives and he created short stories from 14 photographs. Each photograph has its own narrative built from it and the amount of imagination included is phenomenal. He goes into great detail to build an entire backstory based on one photograph with incredible description allowing these images to come alive.

My favourite was Sphinx, a tale of lost love when a young woman, Margaret, who has moved from Scotland to London for a job as a secretary but is warned by her Aunt that she needs a husband.
Margaret meets a Robert in a coffee shop and is attracted to him and his love for the ancient Egyptians, they go to the Sphinxes on the river bank and she gives him her address for him to write but never hears from him again, she returns every weekend to the Sphinx statues with her address just incase Robert lost it.
Lonely and on the lookout for Robert she meets Alfred at a dance, she accepts numerous dates but is never fully invested in their relationship, however Alfred is planning to propose. On the eve of the proposal she takes a walk and sees a sign for an ancient Egyptian exhibition, and you will have to read the rest to find out who she ends up with! A delightful and thoughtful read.
A great book to dip into I would recommend to everyone especially those who love people watching!

Thank you to Netgally for the ARC.

Oh what a treasure Alexander McCall Smith is! In PIANOS AND FLOWERS he turns his imagination loose on a series of black and white photos...and delivers a sweet, short read which sparkles with humor and wisdom...and with McCall Smith's masterful affection for his characters.

Nice collection of imagined short stories based on old black and white photographs. Some romantic, often with a twist, always enjoyable. Each story is individual and not connected to the next, they are stand alones so it's nice to finish one, and get back to the book at another sitting or to just savour slowly. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this work.

This is a short story collection by Alexander McCall Smith, stories inspired by photographs which he has done previously, here he takes a vintage collection of black and white photos, courtesy of the Sunday Times. Whilst there were many stories that I really enjoyed reading, this is nevertheless a mixed bag of tales of love, friendship, life and romance. So the wide range of disparate stories include a Margaret who is absolutely certain that she will know and recognise the right man for her, a mother who wanted her son to enter a specific profession and the weddings of a pair of twins. The stories are often witty, humorous, subtle, profound, insightful, with many located in Scotland. The problem is that many are too slight, just not long enough to satisfy me. I would recommend this collection, just be prepared for the occasional disappointment in the stories too. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

I’ve always enjoyed Alexander McCall Smiths writing; combine that with my love all old photographs and the stories they hold and this book captivated me from the start. I enjoyed the detailed stories he imagined with each photograph. The series of short stories made this easy to pickup the book here and there to read.

After reading the entire series of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, I was so happy I stumbled upon this book on Netgalley. The book is based on various vintage photographs in the archive of The Sunday Times which they made available to the author who in turn spun tales bringing photographs to life or at least that was my expectation from the book.

unfortunately, I felt that the tales are too artificial and mostly imposed to fit the photos. I also felt that soul was missing in most stories and this is perhaps not the best work of Mr Smith. The stories do not hold readers attention and one is left expecting that perhaps the next story is better than this one. The stories do not even conform to the writing style of author who is capable enough to spell bind readers for a series of twenty one books. The great character building, which is speciality of the author, is completely missing from the stories.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review. And THANK YOU, Mr. McCall Smith for allowing me into your imagination. This is a book of short stories which are each inspired by old grainy black and white photos. The image comes alive through the author’s descriptions of the people, their backgrounds, their dreams, etc. it was a joy to read!