18
Page Turners
Reading suggestions by a LUMA staff member
Now adapted for radio, TV, and the internet, the
No. 1 Ladies’ Detective
Agency
novel series both amuses and educates. A buxom, warm-
hearted, intelligent Motswana woman, Mma Precious Ramotswe, is
the first female private investigator in Botswana. Lovingly described
as “traditionally built,” Mma Ramotswe plunges headlong into local
adventures and family crises that range from marital infidelity and
adopted children to financial ruin and a jealous, scheming secretarial
college classmate. Throughout the series, important issues like domestic
violence, clinical depression, AIDS orphans, time-honored belief systems
and Christianity, women in nontraditional occupations, social relations
in traditional African society, and the rural way of life are addressed with
pathos and humor.
Author Alexander McCall Smith, who now lives in Scotland, is
significantly qualified to paint the tangible beauty of southern Africa. He
was born in what is now Zimbabwe and served as a law professor at the
University of Botswana, so his depictions are real and full of memories.
Colorful characters, lush landscapes, multi-level mysteries, and raw
humanity keep the reader engaged from beginning to end.
“I reward myself with a quick read of these endearing
tales of human interaction and redemption.”
JULIE KUZERA
FUTURE READING
The Handsome Man’s De Luxe Café
by Alexander McCall Smith, Pantheon: New York
I reward myself with a quick read of these endearing tales (now numbering fourteen and
counting) of human interaction and redemption. Among my favorites are
The Kalahari Typing
School for Men
,
Blue Shoes and Happiness
,
The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party
, and
The Minor
Adjustment Beauty Salon
. I am looking forward to enjoying adventure number fifteen, which
was just released on October 28.
