Clover is born in the Cayman Islands and grows up alongside her friend James. From the age of six, Clover thinks James is the one boy in the world she most wants to be with. Of course, she doesn’t dare say so. She’s certain that James only likes her as a friend. Like most of their friends, Clover and James’ parents are not from Cayman. They work in the financial, or in James’ case, medical, professions that the attractive tax structure provides for foreigners. When these wealthy foreigners’ children go to college, they must leave the islands. At that point Clover goes to Scotland, which is where her father is from, her mother being from New York City. James goes to England and Clover adapts to not seeing her best friend. She even has a boyfriend, who by all accounts is a very nice guy. But everyone knows, including the boyfriend, that Clover’s heart is reserved for her one love. James and Clover don’t see each other much during this period. James also has a girlfriend, whom Clover meets briefly. They keep in touch via mutual friends from Cayman until after college when Clover decides to take a break and do some travelling. By this time it’s no surprise that she travels to be close to James, just happening to travel halfway across the world, not to see him of course, but making sure she runs into him coincidentally.
This is a sweet story, as always, by Alexander McCall Smith. I’ve read several of his books, many of them in fact, and there’s always something fulfilling about his stories. It helps sometimes to read something, not necessarily with a happy ending, but with a positive view of humanity. He always manages to see through to the goodness in people. Not all of them, of course. A few of his characters have goodness to a depth that I could only hope to reach. Always enjoy his writing.