Snivelling at the ending:

'... for that is what redeems us, that is what makes our pain and sorrow bearable - this giving of love to others, this sharing of the heart'.

In this sixth entry in McCall Smith's consistently delightful series, Botswana detective Precious Ramotswe, the traditionally built—and newly married—owner of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, is saddled with a surfeit of challenging cases and personal crises.

"One might have all the things which the modern world offered, but what was the use of these if they destroyed all that which gave you strength and courage and pride in yourself and in your country?"

There has been an intruder in her home (he managed to escape, but left a telltale pair of trousers in his wake). And the levelheaded sleuth is flustered by an encounter with a man from her past. She is totally devastated when her ex-husband Note shows up demanding money, and she has to make the hardest decisions of her life while Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni watches and waits.

At the same time, her assistant, Mma Makutsi, is preoccupied with finding a husband and has joined a dancing class, and it appears that Charlie, the apprentice at the auto shop, has run off with an older woman. Large cups of bush tea remain the main source of relief for thirst and for solving mysteries. Among the new characters is Mr. Polopetsi, hired to work at Tlokweng Road after Mma Ramotswe knocks him off his bicycle with her tiny white van.

Throughout the series, plots and subplots serve primarily as vehicles for character development and the exploration of cultural values. I found "In the Company of Cheerful Ladies" to be one of the better ones in the series. Smith has the amazing gift of taking the reader to an exotic land and yet his stories are very familiar. His prose is extremely clear and simple and yet the content is thought provoking and deep. With clever subplots, Smith is able to bridge Western and African cultures.

"There had been ignorance, but now more and more people were learning to write, and were graduating from universities. Women had been held in such servitude, and now they could vote and express themselves and claim lives for themselves, even if there are still many men who did not want such things to be. These were the good things that happened and one had to remember them."


Book Details:

Title In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Book 6)
Author Alexander McCall Smith
Reviewed By Purplycookie

These books are sooooo lovely. Only problem is I ran out of bush tea while reading this one and could not find it at the store!

Leuk :)

Sweet story with well loved characters.

My go-to series for calming vibes.

I don't know whether the books are getting better as the series continues, or if I have simply slid into the comfort zone they create for me, with all their repetition and rambling and familiarity, but it seems to me that they are becoming more thematically focused and cohesive. This book's intertwining plots center on appearance and reality, on expectations and prejudgment and how they may obscure the truth: from the book's beginning, where Mma Ramotswe, trying to stop a crime, is taken for a criminal, to the end, where people prove their worth despite their unprepossessing appearances - and vice versa.

This is #6 in The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. Mma Rwatse lies on her bed and squeezes out a mysterious intruder who had hidden there. He flees sans pants that got caught on the bed. Is there any relationship between this stranger and the pumpkin that appears on her porch? Mma Makutsi is taking up dancing, hoping to meet a man. One of the apprentices at the car shop is dating a rich married woman and foolishly puts far too many eggs in that basket.

Smith continues along with his set of endearing characters. While the book retains the charm of its predecessors, I felt that the series was running out of steam with number 5. It is still the case. He will need to offer something a bit more to make ensuing entries worth the time.

If you are new to the series. I would stop, go back and read The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. It makes a difference seeing the characters develop over the volumes.

It took me ages finishing this book. I regret that I even started it when I had sworn myself a break from this series. It was basically the same old same old. Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi are being judgemental against young people and other women. Men are being stereotypical. Just... no.

But then it turned and I got into the story. Mma Makutsi started dance classes. I love reading about dancing. That horrible man Mma Ramostswe has a past with, returned. It felt like something started to happen.

I'm glad it picked up some speed. However, I WILL take a break from this series for a while now.

It is always wonderful to return to Botswana in the company of Precious Ramotswe and friends. The slow pace of life and the kindness which permeates the pages are soothing. The crime solving is a small portion of these novels, the wisdom is what makes them special.

Sono veramente affezionata a madama Precious Ramotswe, titolare della Ladies’ Detective Agency n. 1 di Gaborone, signora di mezza età e con un fisico di stampo “tradizionale”, alla signorina Grace Makutsi, sua assistente che vanta un diploma con il voto di novantasette su cento alla scuola per segretarie del Botswana: due detectives che lavorano in un mondo che stiamo dimenticando –che i più giovani non conoscono proprio- , dove si usava ancora la macchina per scrivere, dove non ci sono telefoni cellulari, in cui per parlarsi si scrivono lettere e non mail, un mondo in cui basta una buona tazza di tè rosso sorseggiato di fronte allo stupendo paesaggio africano ad offrire conforto alle quotidiane incombenze da eseguire ed ai pensieri che angustiano le esistenze semplici e concrete dei protagonisti.
Accadono eventi che capitano ogni giorno: non ci sono delitti da risolvere o complesse indagini da seguire, ma ragazzi che si invaghiscono di donne mature, ladruncoli inesperti che si nascondono sotto i letti per non farsi sorprendere dalla padrona di casa, misteriose zucche che compaiono in giardino di notte lasciate da chissà chi, furgoncini rubati grazie all’aiuto di asini… insomma, piccoli problemi, avversità e questioni che madama Ramotswe, coadiuvata dalla sua assistente e dal suo caro marito JLB Matekoni, il meccanico più bravo del Botswana, risolve con saggezza e buon senso, con pacatezza ed equilibrio.
Non so dire il perché, ogni volta i romanzi di McCall Smith hanno il potere di lasciarmi riappacificata con il mondo.

The start is very slow and a little boring, but it picks up very good.