This week’s slightly blurry book (kept company by one of my beloved dragons – well, it is St David’s Day!) involved a trip back to Botswana.
Book 11 – The Full Cupboard of Life, by Alexander McCall Smith.
This is another book set in the world of Precious Ramotswe and her No 1 Ladies Detective Agency. In this story, Mma Ramotswe is asked to investigate the four suitors of a wealthy woman; Mr J. L. B. Matekoni is pressured into a dangerous situation and Mma Ramotswe has to help him out – and she finally loses patience with their lack of progress towards marriage.
As with all Mma Ramotswe’s stories, this book brims with love of Botswana, albeit tinged with sadness at the progress of change. I saw a review that called these ‘subtle, gentle stories’ and that is exactly what they are – Mma Ramotswe is a good woman, wishing to see the best in others and protect what she can of the world she knows and loves. This particular book doesn’t have much going on – even the investigation into the four suitors ceases after our detective meets two – but it’s a little like curling up on a squishy chair, in a sunny garden, on a warm day. Reading it was somehow restful.
There are different books for different moods, and that is one of the joys of reading – you can find something to suit you, whatever you want. I started and stopped two darker and more complex books before I picked this one up because it’s not long since I read the first four. However, I didn’t have a lot of time this week, and I needed something light and pleasant, and this was the perfect choice.
I appreciate this isn’t really a review but I already said all I needed to say about these books. They are just a pleasure, for me. A bit of escapism on a week of editing and personal targets is very much welcome, and that’s exactly what I got.
Happy reading,
EJ
🙂
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