From a Far and Lovely Country by Alexander McCall Smith – Book

From a Google Image Search – Penguin Random House

With all the weight of world events and the serious issues on our minds it was my pleasure to spend some time in Gaborone, Botswana with Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi at the #1 Ladies Detective Agency. This is a long series of books about the simplest, the sweetest, and sometimes the bitterest things we encounter in our lives. These life lessons are learned under blue skies and in the shade of acacia trees with plenty of breaks for a cup of tea, preferably red bush tea. From a Far Away and Lovely Country was written by the Scottish author Alexander McCall Smith who lived in Botswana and never lost his love for this little nation. He depicts it as struggling to be modern without losing the values of the land and those who raised cattle on it.

Mma (Precious) Ramotswe set up her detective agency almost by accident. Then Mma Makutsi of the big eyeglasses and peculiar ways became the secretary (who scored 97% on her final exam at secretarial school). Mma Makutsi has promoted herself into a role as another detective in the agency and now Charlie, apprentice to J.B.L. Matekoni (mechanic and husband of Precious Ramotswe) is taking his first try at taking on an investigation on his own.

Two cases need solutions when we visit Gaborone this time. Julia Cotterell has arrived from America, newly widowed, looking for distant relatives in Mochudi where Mma Ramotswe grew up. Then when Mma Ramotswe visits her friend Mma Potokwane who runs the orphanage a new house mother, Mma Ikobeng, talks about a new club in Gaborone which is advertising that it is a place for single’s to meet, but it appears that the men who pay to belong to the club are married and just pretending to be single.

This is all happening on Mma Ramotswe’s birthday, which her beloved husband seems to have forgotten. And then there is the incident of the red dress. Most of the cases that Precious takes on are family problems, or minor crimes or misbehaviors. She is very wise and never lets praise go to her head. She solves cases in human ways, without a need for weapons or action scenes.

Mma Ramotswe is with Julia looking down on the village where she spent her childhood. “They stood in silence, each lost in the sort of thoughts that come to us when we look upon a place we love or are ready to love. Then the sound of cattle bells drifted from below, and Julia turned and looked at Mma Ramotswe and said in wonderment, “There are bells Mma.” And Mma Ramotswe smiled and pointed towards the place where, far beneath them, cattle moved between the acacia trees. It was a sound that all those raised in Botswana had imprinted upon their hearts: the anthem of the land, the notes of the country. And it reminded her of her father and all that he meant to her.” (pg. 140)

These little books contain plenty of homespun philosophy that is necessary in such a complex world as ours. “Experience had taught her that there were many people who seemed to be searching for something that they could never find–who might not even know what they were looking for. That, she thought, was because so many of us felt that there must be an answer to the questions we all asked at one point or another–what was the purpose of our lives and why was there so much suffering?–and if we looked hard enough we would find the key to that search, although understandable, was one that was more or less destined to fail, and inevitably we were disappointed. The way to deal with the sorrow of the world, Mma Ramotswe thought, was not to think you would ever necessarily understand why the world was the way it was. Rather you should list the things you felt were good, and work towards bringing those into the lives of others. That would keep you busy enough, because there was always-always-room for more kindness and love (and tea) in our lives, none of which needed any explanation.” (pg. 140)

I keep reading this series of books because I know they will offer me a dose of kindness, refresh me, and send me back out into the real world where kindness is much harder to find. You will find that kindness is still around if you dish out a bit of kindness yourself. Alexander McCall Smith’s version of Botswana is a lovely place to find myself every time I visit.

The Colors of All the Cattle by Alexander McCall Smith – Book

From a Google Image Search – Your Botswana

Alexander McCall Smith has written over 20 books in his series about The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency and each one is like a perfect little piece of Mma Potokwane’s fruit cake and a refreshing cup of tea. I am reading this particular book in the time of the novel coronavirus when a bit of Mma Romatswe’s Botswana wisdom and her solid home-grown values are a perfect antidote to the fears of contagion and social isolation.

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency is one of the faux families we create sometimes when we are in close contact with the same people every day, in this case Mma’s employees, and because her office is in the same building as her husband, Rra J.L.B. Matekoni’s, mechanic business, this small work-family includes her husband’s employees.

The cases that Mma Romatswe and Makutsi take on are often small family matters such as infidelity or money matters. But this time there is a matter that is somewhat more serious. Some developers want to build a hotel over what was a graveyard. Although Precious Romatswe has no desire to run for the empty seat on the Gabarone council, her strong feeling for traditional Botswana customs, and a lot of pressure from her work family sees her signing the application and running for office.

A customer at Tlokweng Motors also reveals that he was a victim in a hit and run accident in a smaller Botswana village. And Charlie, a handsome young man who turns out to be a fairly hopeless mechanic, but a somewhat lucky assistant detective finds Queenie-Queenie, who seems to be the girl of his dreams. These homey stories, and more, are surprisingly absorbing and I find that these characters have become a kind of faux family to me. If you crave a little sincerity and kindness in your day you will find it in The Colors of All the Cattle by Alexander McCall Smith. I hope the real people of Botswana have not been affected very deeply by the COVID19 virus.

The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine by Alexander McCall Smith – Book

woman_sunshinebig

Alexander McCall Smith has been writing The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series of books for more than a decade and I love them all. These stores remind me that there is still sweetness in this chaotic and sometimes wicked world of ours. Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi Radiphuti rarely have dangerous crimes to untangle. They are often called upon to clear up domestic difficulties, misunderstandings, or familial treacheries. Mma Ramotswe and her cohort (although somewhat eccentric) generally solve these delicate situations and sometimes set other things straight along the way.

In this current novel, The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine, Mma Makutsi forces Mma Ramotswe to take a vacation. When a case comes in and when it seems to have been placed in the lap of the perhaps-too-softhearted part-time pinch hitter Rra Polopetsi, Mma Ramotswe almost puts her friendship with Mma Makutsi in jeopardy. She proves that she is not good at vacationing. But her vacation gives her time to think some very good thoughts that remind her about her blessings:

“She gazed at her husband, Being loved and admired by a man like that – and she knew this man, this mechanic, this fixer of machines with their broken hearts, did indeed love and admire her – was like walking in sunshine; it gave the same feeling of warmth and pleasure to bask in the love of one who has promised it, publicly at a wedding ceremony, and who is constant in his promise that such love will be given for the rest of his days. What more could any woman ask? None of us, she thought, not one single one of us, could ask for anything more than that.”

Perhaps we don’t all agree with this sentiment and we might be inclined to want this and still want more, however, the emotion of this expression of marital love gives us hope that goodness will win out over evil and that we still inhabit a moral universe.

Even though this is the sixteenth novel in the series I don’t think I will ever tire of visiting my fictional friends in Gaborone, Botswana.