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    La's Orchestra Saves the World
    La's Orchestra Saves the World
    La's Orchestra Saves the World
    Audiobook7 hours

    La's Orchestra Saves the World

    Written by Alexander McCall Smith

    Narrated by Emily Gray

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    A heart-warming stand alone novel about the life-affirming powers of music and company during a time of war, from the best-selling and beloved author of The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency. When Lavender, La to her friends, moves to the Suffolk countryside, it's not just to escape the London Blitz but also to flee the wreckage of a disastrous marriage. But as she starts to become a part of the community, she detects a sense of isolation. Her deep love of music and her desire to bring people together inspire her to start an orchestra. Little did she know that through this orchestra she would not only give hope and courage to the people of the community, but also that she would meet a man, Feliks, a shy upright Pole, who would change her life forever.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateDec 8, 2009
    ISBN9781440763410
    La's Orchestra Saves the World
    Author

    Alexander McCall Smith

    Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the award-winning series The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency, and he now devotes his time to the writing of fiction, including the 44 Scotland Street and the Isabel Dalhousie series. He is the author of over eighty books on a wide array of subjects, and his work has been translated into forty-six languages. Before becoming a full-time writer he was for many years Professor of Medical Law at Edinburgh.

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    Reviews for La's Orchestra Saves the World

    4/5

    39 ratings37 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A beautiful, gentle read. Kind of sad, but most enjoyable. La has such hopes for her life and really it all comes to nothing - such a shame. Well written and a joy to read - I shall certainly attempt some of his other books now.
    • 3/5
      A stand alone novel by Alexander McCall Smith. It is about La, short for Lavender. She goes to college where she shows a lot of promise. She meets and marries, though, but a few years into her marriage her husband leaves her for someone else. She moves into a house her in-laws have in the country. When World War II starts, La decides to start an orchestra in order to improve morale of the villagers and the nearby servicemen. She grows to love a member of the Polish air force who works on a farm nearby.It is a simple and kind story, not terribly exciting, but not everything needs to be.
    • 3/5
      This is a parable: the simple story describing La's unsophisticated experiences of looking after hens, starting a village orchestra and worrying about the overlap of loyalty and patriotic duty is symbolic of the daunting matter of survival in wartime. La's life is necessarily modest, typical of the bleak days of shortages and insecurity. Happily, The orchestra served as a distraction that helped both musicians and audience endure, not only run of the mill adversity, but the sustained distress of a difficult time.A pleasant, gentle read with subtle reflections of ordinary life while the world was at war.
    • 2/5
      So-so narrative about life of a young widow in the Suffolk countryside during World War II. Includes McCall Smith's usual Sunday Philosophy Club series themes of suspicious and false accusations. Not his best.
    • 3/5
      This book disappointed me because it was not up to the high standards I have seen in the #1 Ladies Detective Agency series. There's plenty of potential in the story, but most of it goes unrealized. The basics are here (good story, interesting characters and so on) but they are not fully developed. Perhaps Mr. Smith should have asked Isabel Dalhousie to edit the book. I believe she could have improved it.
    • 4/5
      What a wonderful afternoon read this is!! While some the characters resembled those found in some McCall-Smith's other works, this book had a special quality and charm. Set aside a few hours to read this one -- it will be time well spent.
    • 4/5
      La's husband deserts her and then dies leaving her to put the pieces back together in a small English village. Set during World War II, this is another gentle story from Alexander McCall Smith.
    • 4/5
      A gentle melancholy reflection on the middle of the twentieth century in rural England this short novel is marred by inconsistency. The subtle intellectual heroine is much softer than Isobel Dalhousie (Smith's nearest equivalent) but she is a powerful force in the small world that she chooses to occupy. In the first half the eponymous La finds her way to rural Suffolk after being abandoned and then bereaved. There she establishes the titular orchestra although this is largely incidental the main thrust of the story, which is about the Platonic relationship that she forms with a Polish airman.
    • 5/5
      This engrossing tale can be taken as metaphor for English behavior on the home front and in relations with allies in the Second World War. It's very moving, and thought-provoking. I imagined the main character as Troy from the Inspector Alleyn series. The Polish officer I imagined as, well, the quintessential Polish expatriate officer. Smith is certainly perceptive, humanly and historically.
    • 4/5
      Simply delightful novel about Lavendar (La for short) who through a series of mishaps lives in a Suffolk house during WWII and her relationship with her neighbors and a Polish airman while there.
    • 4/5
      Loved this easy flowing, classic McCall Smith, book. He once again creates a lovable character, flaws and all.
    • 3/5
      Melancholy and gentle story. Not quite as engaging as other books by the same author, neverthelesss I enjoyed the story of what it could be to be one ordinary woman in wartime and of the redemptive power of even amateur music making.
    • 5/5
      This was a charming book. I really truly enjoyed it.
    • 5/5
      La’s Orchestra Saves the World is a stand-alone novel by Alexander McCall-Smith. It is set around the time of the Second World War in England. Lavender Stone (La to her friends) leaves London for a Suffolk village in the wake of a disastrous marriage. When the war starts, she becomes a part of the small community in her village. She sets up an orchestra which brings the village and the men on the nearby airbase together and gives them some hope for the future. She also meets Feliks, a shy Polish pilot who has an unexpected effect on her. For me, this book somehow has the feel of Mary Ann Shaffer’s Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, perhaps because it is set in the same time period. The end seemed to be headed for a let-down, but the last page was a pleasant surprise. As with all Alexander McCall-Smith’s books, filled with gentle philosophy: it was a joy to read.
    • 4/5
      A slow moving but lovely story of loneliness, betrayal, fortitude and friendship during WW2. A really lovely exploration of these themes.
    • 3/5
      Lavender…La to her friends…is a widow living a quiet, simple life in the Suffolk countryside, far from the more glamorous and intellectual life she’d lived in London before her husband first betrayed her and then died in an accident. Retreating to Suffolk to put her life back together had seemed a grand idea at first, but she soon began to feel somewhat at loose ends. When World War II broke out, she dedicated herself to war work, serving as an assistant to a local farmer. Her job? The hens. When a stranded Polish airman joined her in helping out on the farm, La dared to hope that love might find her again…but Felix showed little more than friendliness toward her. Looking for ways to make a bigger difference, La hit upon the idea of putting together a village orchestra and inviting servicemen from the local base to join villagers in making enthusiastic, if amateur, music. The orchestra made her famous, becoming a huge morale-booster for all involved…except La, whose unrequited love for Felix was soon joined by suspicions that he hadn’t been entirely honest about his past.Charming, understated, and resonant, La’s Orchestra Saves the World is perhaps not quite as layered and nuanced as McCall Smith’s popular No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, but should satisfy nonetheless.
    • 4/5
      I quite liked this book. It's quiet and reflective. I found myself thinking along with the protagonist, deciding whether I agreed with her decisions. After completing the story I continued to think about whether the protagonist was a heroine? was this a happy ending? All in all, a good read.
    • 4/5
      After her husband runs off to France with another woman, 20-something Lavender (La) Stone decides to leave London for the quiet countryside of Suffolk. When World War II breaks out, La searches for a way to join the war effort at home. A chance encounter with a member of the air force leads to two turning points in La’s life. The first is that she decides to establish an orchestra, to be manned by herself, locals, and military men, so that a thing of beauty – music – may persist despite the devastating war. The second is that she is introduced to Polish airman Feliks Dabrowski, with whom she develops romantic feelings.Although I found parts of this book charming, it was not quite up to par with Alexander McCall Smith’s other books. The majority of the book went by in the slow pacing that McCall Smith usually uses and is especially appropriate for a book set in a quiet countryside village. However, the ending felt suddenly rushed, and I didn’t think it quite fit right with the rest of the book. In addition, I found other bits of the narrative structure troubling. For instance, the book opens up with two men going to visit La’s countryside home, long after she has left. Who are these men? Why are they interested in La? I kept thinking we would hear from them again at the end and they would function as the framing structure for this novel but after that first chapter, they completely disappear. I found this brief section to be not terribly interesting, so I can’t help but wonder why this was chosen as the opening for the book. Later, towards the end of the novel, instead of going along in the third-person narrative in chronological order, McCall Smith jumps to an odd section where La is supposedly talking to a friend many years in the future in what basically becomes a first-person monologue. It is a very peculiar section, completely out of place with the rest of the novel, which then reverts back to the third-person narrative. These seem like newbie mistakes, not something you would expect from an established author like McCall Smith.Nevertheless, the book contains a number of colorful characters populating the countryside, provides a bit of insight into a historical period, and adds some food for thought type comments through La’s musings. In addition, the narrator of the audio book was excellent. Overall, the novel had its moments, but I’m not that I would recommend it.
    • 4/5
      Hands down, I adored this book. I've never read an Alexander McCall Smith book before, and I am happily surprised at how wonderful he is. The story revolves around La, an unlucky in love English woman who offers her services on a farm during WW2. There she meets the strange Pole Feliks and organises a group of musical misfits to raise town spirits during a dark and unhappy time. A truly touching, beautiful story.
    • 4/5
      La's Orchestra isn't really the focus of this book. It's a story about how WWII affected people at their homes in small English towns. La is a woman who was left alone, comfortable, and purposeless, and found ways to give back to her community. If the story had been written by another author, I don't think it would be so subtle. Stories like this tend to include grand gestures and flamboyant characters. I appreciate the restraint to tell only the relevant parts of La's story, and to tell them in a way that doesn't add unnecessary embellishment. It seems so simple and honest that I absolutely believed every word.
    • 4/5
      I love the series of Ladies Detective agency from the author, but haven't liked his other series, so I was a little wary when I picked up the book. After reading the jacket blurb, I thought I'd give it a chance, and it didn't disappoint. The books based in Africa have a calm that radiates from them, and although this book was based in England during WWII, Smith created a tranquil mood (or as tranquil as possible during those times) - the country setting rang true as did the characters' actions.
    • 5/5
      This is actually a small book in size too but has a huge heart. It is a stand alone novel by the writer of The Number One ladies Detective series.The world usually makes little note o for long remembers people like the main character,La. However,her what seem like small contributions at the time added to the success of Great Britain surviving the second world war with spirit and dignity.The many from the Suffolk countryside where most of the book takes place have that tough exterior but true hearts of gold on the inside.This book is similar to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and the people in the English countryside in James Herriot's tales from All Creatures Great And Small.A very satisfying read.
    • 4/5
      Though I did like the story, I didn't love it the way I wanted to. I didn't feel attached to anyone and couldn't understand the point of the orchestra. In fact, the orchestra didn't even come up into the halfway point of the book. Though La was an all right character, I felt that the ease of her financial situation felt unrealistic (as I tend to feel for other Alexander McCall Smith's characters at times). Still, finishing the novel was not a bad way to spend an afternoon.
    • 5/5
      McCall Smith’s versatility in writing is shown once again in “La’s Orchestra Saves the World.” At one level it reads as a quiet novel of English village life during World War II. La moves to the country following a broken marriage. She settles into a quiet life of reading and music, and as part of the war effort grows vegetables and takes care of a farmer’s hens. With the help of a British airman she forms an orchestra. An orchestra that helps bring people together and provide some support as the war slowly moves forward.At the first meeting of the orchestra La’s agreed they will have concerts including a victory concert, but as time passes no one speaks of this. It is avoided like a superstition, but a short time after VE Day La’s orchestra performs a victory concert to a huge crowd. La believes in the power of music and during the Cuban Missal Crisis she calls the musicians together to perform a peace concert. On another level “La’s Orchestra Saves the World.” is about peace and the need for everyday people to be concerned about it, to nurture and care for it. It is too important to be left in the hands of politicians and armies.
    • 1/5
      Yawn.When I open a book entitled "La's Orchestra Saves the World," I expect a significant portion of it to deal with La's orchestra. I also expect that orchestra to save the world in some sense, even if metaphorically. I realize that titles are often created by the marketing departments of publishing companies, rather than by the authors, but they ought to exercise some prudence in giving them a passing resemblance to the texts; it's not wise to annoy your customers.La's orchestra comes up almost in passing. It is not a central plot element. It does not save the world. La herself is a privileged Englishwoman who spends World War II in the country, repairing a chicken coop and occasionally musing about her Cambridge professor, whom the author uses to take potshots at academics and/or feminists with little connection to the real world. There's also some shallow romantic wish-fulfillment.I haven't read anything else of Alexander McCall Smith's, and now I know not to bother.
    • 4/5
      The story of Lavender "La" Stone and the village orchestra she starts in the early days of World War II is the focus of this quite and gentle novel. La is an amazing woman, a survivor -- and her move to the British countryside gets her away from London and the memories of a massive betrayal by the man she loves. La's Orchestra Saves the World moves along slowly, at a pace that many readers might find tedious. But fans of Alexander McCall Smith aren't that type of reader. This stand-alone gem demonstrates once again the amazing ability of this author to get into the mind of women characters, to show them in their glory without glossing over (or dwelling on) their less flattering characteristics. Mr. Smith also shines a light onto the lives of ordinary citizens during a time of war. 12/31/2009
    • 4/5
      A deftly told tale by Alexander McCall Smith. The story is simple, but the first chapter starts at the end, and the then the rest of the story unfolds from the beginning. The writing style has a light touch - like a water-colour - and the result is wonderful. Read April 2010.
    • 5/5
      Apparently, readers familiar with the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series are somewhat disappointed by this book. Not having read the series, I wasn't disappointed at all and was even delighted. That might seem odd considering the story takes place in England in the years leading up to and through WWII. Lavender is a rather ordinary heroine. She maintains her poise and perseveres despite setbacks and unexpected events. I think that's the whole point. She embodies her country's spirit as she makes her small contribution to the Women's Land Army by planting a garden at her country home and helping a local farmer for several hours every day. The little orchestra of townspeople and local servicemen she organizes is not so good but great for morale.To me, the strongest characters in the book are Tim, the energetic RAF officer who inspires La to create the orchestra, and Feliks, the injured Polish pilot that Tim finds work for. Their stories, along with the lesser ones, are the world in action around La. She works and does her duty but being a woman of her time and age (she's too old to enlist to study nursing) her options are limited. Her stoic determination and her stolid resilience over the years, endeared her to me. In fact, all the characters are so well written and believable they are likable. The whole book is well written. The style is easily understandable making for a quick read and a clear conclusion.
    • 5/5
      With this stand-alone book McCall Smith once again proves just what a diverse writer he is. This story of an ordinary woman living during the time of the Second World War is beautifully told. The events related here are things that could quite easily have happened to anyone at that time and that is why this book works so well. La, the way she forms her Orchestra and her interaction with the various characters she encounters (Mrs Agg,Tim,Feliks ) are all so well described,the reader will feel a great sympathy with her.Although this is a book about war and it's effects,it is at the same time a very gentle and moving story and one which I am sure readers will throughly enjoy.
    • 4/5
      This delightful story remined me of the Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie story.