I am reading the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. I came late to the discovery of these books, which has turned out to my advantage in one sense. Over the past two weeks, I have been reading these books in succession, having retrieved all of them from the library and stacked them neatly on the desk.
I am just now beginning the third to the last book, and I can already feel that I’m going to miss Mma Ramotswe, Mma Makutsi, and Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni. Not to mention the apprentices. The books take place in Botswana – Gaborone to be exact, with many references to Lobatse, the Kalahari, and places over the border. I know a slight bit about Botswana due to meeting two men in a computer training class years ago who were from that African nation. They shared the same pride that is evident in these books, and it was enough to cause me to look further at Botswana, this landlocked nation that is dry and hot.
There is a real sense of pride about Botswana in the books, of the people, of the land, of the old morality, and particularly of the leadership of the country – Sir Seretse Khama to be exact, the man who led the country after it became a free nation and whose legacy continues to guide the nation and its people. And there’s a great deal about cattle.
As with most good books, I find myself scribbling notes or underlying things. As these books are from the library, I’ve been jotting away. The books are filled with many truths. Here’s one: “A life without stories would be no life at all.”
These truths are observations. Observations about people, things, the world around us. The main character, Mma Ramotswe, the founder of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, is a keen observer. Having no experience in detection, other than having read her trusty manual titled The Principles of Private Detection, she brings her ability to distill the truths that she sees in people and their behavior to the art of solving problems. Problems more than crimes. Ones to which we can all relate or understand in some fashion.
These are easy, breezy books to read – about 200 pages each – and they are a real delight. I find myself laughing a great deal, but I also have had to stop a tear or two at times when something has touched me just so. I have vivid images of the characters. I hear their voices. And I can see the Kalahari.
One of the joys of reading is that it can transport you to another place. These books certainly have done that. But it’s more than place. These books have transported me to Botswana, to understand the people and their traditions and their land. And the most exciting thing is that when I resurface here on my land, half a world away, the lessons and truths that I have found in these books are relevant to the place where my two feet are planted.
