Loving Frank by Nancy Horan not only sparked a great, in-depth discussion, but led club members to read other works about famed architect, Frank Lloyd Wright such as Death in a Prairie House: Frank Lloyd Wright and the Taliesin Murders by William R. Drennan.

The widely-read post Wives and Lovers can be found here.  This selection complete with discussion questions has received over 1,000 hits in the past year.

These is my Words, written entirely in diary form by Nancy Turner, has also found favor with club members.  The post Pioneer Woman can be found here.

Told entirely in  letter format by Mary Ann Shaffer, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society sparked a great deal of interest and a lively discussion.

One book club member wished that the fictional characters would indeed inhabit the aforementioned island, because she would love to visit with them to learn more about their war-time experience.  Click here for The Next Step – Discussing the Book.

The holiday season brings with it a chance to relive Christmases past and present.  Books read and discussed for our December meeting  include The Christmas Train by David Baldacci, The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans and Red Bird Christmas by Fannie Flagg. Of the three mentioned, Red Bird Christmas rated as number one.

The post, It’s Unanimous, proclaimed our love for Mma Precious Ramotswe, the main character of the The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.

More information about its prolific author, Alexander McCall Smith, can be found here.

What are some of your favorites?

A clergyman’s daughter, Ms. Austen, died 179 years before leaving  a legacy of six works, two of which were published posthumously.

Yet those six novels of Regency England have spawned 52 movies and TV presentations over a period of 71 years as well as a vast number of readable look-alikes and sequels. (A  movie list may be found here.)

Hoping to cash in on the ever-growing Austen fervor, book publishers have accepted and issued novel after novel to satisfy the public’s thirst for more.

Three of these Austenesque works will be featured below:

Austenland

by

Shannon Hale

For a tribute to Jane Austen and the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice (1995) check out this slim volume of 194 pages.
(Anyone who has viewed this version of  P and P will readily understand the author’s dedication and her main character’s obsession with Mr. Darcy as played by Colin Firth.)

Seeking to rid her life of this aforementioned obsession, Jane Hayes, a 33-year-old graphic artist, accepts a free, three-week vacation at Pembroke Park, Kent.

To participate in the 1816 live-action-role-play (LARP), this  modern day New Yorker must exchange her purple bra and panties for a Regency costume complete with chemise, push-up bra corset, white cotton drawers, thigh-high stockings fastened with garters, a blue print day dress and black ankle boots.

Humorously, Miss Jane Erstwhile (the former Jane Hayes) fumbles her way through the exaggerated table manners and proper etiquette of the times regarding servants, the opposite sex and dancing.

While being wooed by paid actors exhibiting the best and worst traits of  Austen’s leading men, Jane struggles with the dizziness of exaggerated flirting and the underlying falseness of the entire situation.

“I come for Mr. Darcy, fall for the gardener and get propositioned by the drunk husband,” she laments.

Readers will chuckle at Jane’s clumsy efforts to fit into the stifling role of an 18th century lady while striving to exist without her  handy cell phone and MP3 player.

Others complained that the novel was too short and could have been expanded especially the behind-the-scenes episodes and the unexpected ending.

Kudos to Ms. Hale for sticking to Austen’s code of morality and omitting the crude language and sex scenes penned by other imitators.

Jane Austen in Boca

by

Paula Marantz Cohen

Ms. Cohen set her witty adaptation of Pride and Prejudice in the Boca Festa retirement village where the main characters indulge in harmless flirtation to spark up their senior years.

Female friends, Flo Kliman, retired librarian, and grieving widow, May Newman, establish an easy rapport with fellow seniors, Norman Grafstein, a wealthy widower, and Stan Jacobs, a  semi-retired professor at Florida Atlantic University.

Into this amiable mix, the author inserts Mel Shrimer, a flamboyant journalist, who pursues Flo shamelessly while defaming Stan at the same time.

At the Valentine’s Day Dance, Shrimer is a no show leaving Flo to entertain a belligerent Stan.

Meanwhile septuagenarian Lila Katz marries bon vivant Hy Marcus in an ostentatious ceremony and departs for a European honeymoon powered by Viagra.

After Norman’s family visit to North Jersey, he and May are reunited as Mel Shrimer reappears to marry Roz Fliegler, a rich widow.  (Smarmy Shrimer was privy to the financial losses of Flo’s late husband.)

When Stan finally proposes, Flo’s reply is a diatribe equal to the one spoken by Elizabeth Bennett over 200 years ago.  Need I say more?

Some readers may find Flo’s computer prowess and reliance on e-mail a detraction, but Jane Austen in Boca remains an entertaining read for most Austenites.

Jane and His Lordship’s Legacy

by

Stephanie Barron

Number eight in Ms. Barron’s mystery series finds Jane and her mother moving into Chawton House, displacing the bailiff’s widow and angering the villagers.

Privately grieving the death of fellow-detective, Lord Howard Trowbridge, Jane is baffled by the  local’s cold welcome and Jack Hinton’s claim to the Hampshire estates slated to be inherited by Edward, her brother and landlord.

Add in the uproar raised by Trowbridge’s relatives when the lady detective inherits the Lord’s papers, letters and diaries, a dead laborer in the cellar plus the theft of the chest full of papers and the formerly quiet village of Chawton bubbles over with activity.

This ‘mystery of manners’ has netted high praise for Ms. Barron’s  expert recreation of Austen’s prose style, setting and character portrayal.

Jane and His Lordship’s Legacy, heralded for its fast paced narration, realism and believability, should not be overlooked by any Austen fan.

No matter how talented the Austen imitators might be Pride and Prejudice remains my favorite novel by Austen herself – what’s yours?

In the 1850s, when polite society dictated what a lady could and could not do, many of the fairer sex dabbled in parapsychology to gain prominence without being chastised by the men in their lives…..

“Didn’t I forbid you to attend that blasted séance at Maude Blanchard’s house?” the fleshy man blustered  from across the table.

Eyes downcast, Caroline picked at the heavy linen napkin beside her plate before whispering, “Yes Father.”

“Then you willingly disobeyed me?” her dinner partner demanded as his beefy face purpled.

Pausing a moment to gather herself, Caroline looked up into the blood-shot eyes of her remaining parent.  “Madame Reneé specifically asked for my assistance.”

“Madame Reneé,” he snorted in reply.

Straightening her shoulders, Caroline answered, “That’s right, Papa.” In a  voice steeled with bravado, she added,  “Together, Madame Reneé and I contacted Mother.”

“Madeline,” he choked out, “You communicated with my Madeline.”

Gaining confidence, the young blond woman leaned forward to grasp his gnarled hands saying,  “Mother sends her love.”

Clearly she had bested the distraught man before her.

For the next 150 years, spirit writing has taken the following two forms:

In trance or automatic writing, an angel or spirit supposedly guides the medium’s hand to produce the communication.

The message flows through the clairvoyant who scribbles frantically on paper fed to her by a helper.  Some may slip into a trance – like state while others report feeling the heat of angry words or the coolness of a calm message.

In slate writing, the spirit supposedly moves the chalk or slate pencil unaided.

Seated across from each other, the medium and assistant hold the corner of an ordinary slate pressed tightly against the underside of the table.  The spirit writes with a small piece of chalk sandwiched between the slate and the table.

Often debunked by the great magician Harry Houdini, spirit writing forms the backbone of the successful Aunt Dimity series by Colorado author Nancy Atherton.  Sharing clues from beyond the grave, Dimity Westwood helps her American niece solve one mystery after another.

First introduced to Dimity through a series of bedtime stories, Lori Shepherd not only lives in her English aunt’s  honey-colored cottage, but also communicates with her there. Retreating to the study in the Cotswolds, the young mother of twin boys, cracks open the dark blue leather journal and poses a question.

Immediately the pages come alive with Dimity’s distinctive script and an answer.  While this type of spirit writing does not exactly fit into the two types described above, it has served author Nancy Atherton well through 14 books over the course of 17 years with another one due out in 2010.

Categorized as light fantasy, the stories provide all of the elements of a good mystery without the sex and violence found in more graphic novels.  The first two novels: Aunt Dimity’s Death and Aunt Dimity and the Duke can now be found under the title:  Introducing Aunt Dimity, Paranormal Detective.

For a complete list of the Dimity mysteries or to learn more about this unconventional author, click here.

]]> http://www.bookclubcompanion.com/commentary/spirit-writing/feed 0 http://www.bookclubcompanion.com/commentary/a-cozy-read http://www.bookclubcompanion.com/commentary/a-cozy-read#comments Thu, 20 Aug 2009 01:43:06 +0000 Linda http://www.bookclubcompanion.com/?p=1162 Love mysteries, but can’t stomach the gory descriptions ?

Shriveled and puckered, its dead white skin glistened in the moonlight each time the corpse bobbed to the surface of the stagnant pool.

Do you grimace when you read details such as this?

A suspicious liquid trickled from the dented skull and mixed with the falling rain to form a pinkish pool under the body.

Do you shudder at what might happen next?

Suddenly, a scream of anguish pierced the stillness not once, but twice before fading into the chirrup, chirrup of the summer time insects.

If you can answer yes to one or all of the above, then make your next mystery a cozy, a light-hearted, g-rated novel.

The cozy reader won’t have to look far to find the basics of any good mystery:  one or even two victims, a variety of clues sprinkled with red herrings, the usual suspects and an investigation with plenty of twists and turns.  What’s missing is that sickening feeling in the pit of your stomach.

Just as readers come in all shapes, sizes and interests so does the cozy mystery. But under closer examination, certain similarities arise.

More times than not the crime solver is an intelligent woman with a college degree which she may or may not be putting to good use. The heroine can work at a multitude of jobs including: caterer, bed-and-breakfast owner, cat lover, librarian, book store owner, florist, dog trainer, homemaker, teacher. . .

• Recent widow, Judith McMonigle turned her family home into Hillside Manor, a successful bed and breakfast.(Mary Daheim)
• Owner of Goldilock’s Catering, Goldy Schulz habitually

  sneaks into crime scenes in between cooking fancy food for the upper crust of Aspen Meadow, Colorado.(Diane Mott Davidson)

• Miss Emily Dorothea Seeton, a retired art teacher, creates bizarre, often surrealistic sketches than only “The Oracle” can translate.

The action in a typical cozy takes place in  a small town or village whose inhabitants enjoy gossiping with and about each other.  Usually one particularly nosy character assists the sleuth .

• At home in a honey-colored cottage in the Cotswolds, Lori Shepherd, mother of twins, relies on the common sense of Aunt Dimity, her deceased benefactress.
• The quirky Vida Runkel, the Alpine Advocate’s House and Home Editor,  knows everything about everybody in the small town and willingly shares this information with her publisher friend Emma Lord. (Mary Daheim)
• Queen of the cozies, Miss Marple, resides in St. Mary Meade where her knitting camouflages her extraordinary powers of observation and inquiring mind. (Agatha Christie)

Since the cozy sleuth isn’t a medical examiner, detective or police officer, someone close usually has access to autopsy reports, crime lab results or forensic evidence and has been known to share information.

• An elected official Milo Dodge, Skykomish County Sheriff,  is required to keep Emma Lord of the Alpine Advocate up-to-date on any ongoing criminal investigation. (Their relationship fluctuates from the professional to the personal throughout the series.)
• For convenience, authors Mary Daheim and Diana Mott Davidson have married their  main characters (Judith McMonigle and Goldy Schulz) to policemen the second time around.
• Miss Ess has not one but two pals at Scotland Yard:  Chief Superintendent Delphick (‘The Oracle’) and Detective Sergeant Bob Ranger. (Hamilton Crane)

Likable characters bring the reader back time and again to a cozy mystery series.  No cozy fan will pay for novels populated with low life scum or evil people.

• What cat lover wouldn’t enjoy the antics of Koko and Yum Yum, the two Siamese cats who inhabit a converted apple barn in Pickax along with their human, Jim Qwilleran, the crime reporter from Down Below.
• Both ex-wives of The Jerk, Goldy and Marla plot revenge against this rich womanizer and his latest bimbo while solving mysteries.
• Who can’t empathize with single mother Emma Lord and her ongoing struggle to support her college-hopping son while publishing a small town weekly newspaper?

Most of the time, the crime takes place “off stage” and death is quick and merciful.

• “He’s flying to Florida first thing in the morning.  His

  grandmother was found dead in bed.” (The Cat Who Went Into The Closet)

• “. . . . emerged from the little grocery store with a stretcher.  It was covered with black canvas.” (The Alpine Decoy)
• “The man . . . . was sniffing at the scarlet patches and beginning to swear.  ‘Tomato ketchup-tomato bloody ketchup!’” (Hands Up, Miss Seeton)

Sex very rarely graces the pages of a cozy mystery.  If there, the act is implied or takes place behind closed doors.

• “The Sheriff and I had our usual evening, which, as usual, did not include a sexual orgy.” (The Alpine Decoy)
• Jim Qwilleran and his librarian friend, Polly, dine together, buy each other expensive gifts, but bid each other good night via the telephone. (Lilian Jackson Braun)
• There’s no question that Miss Marple has always been a maiden and will go to her grave untouched.

Cozy mysteries are a fun read, engage the mind and provide entertainment.  For more information or pick out a title, try www.cozy-mystery.com.

What’s your favorite cozy?  I’m partial to the Cat Who series by Lilian Jackson Braun.

Or maybe just a pampered and promiscuous woman manipulated by the head of French Intelligence who needed an attention-grabbing case to prove the worth of his bureau and save his reputation?

How about a child/woman, indulged from early on by her doting father,  searching for a reliable man to love and support her in the style to which she had become accustomed?

Fleeing from a disastrous early marriage and the death of one of her two children, Margaretha Geertruida Grietje Zelle joined the circus as an equestrian.

It soon became evident to the owner that dancing was her real talent. “Her languid, graceful style of moving, her dark eyes and luxurious hair, telegraphed her sexuality to any male in her presence.”

At a time when the dancers at the Moulin Rouge flaunted only their knickers and breasts, Zelle thought nothing of discarding everything during the course of a performance except her jeweled bra. How scandalous in the early 20th century just before WWI?

Also, about this time, she adopted the stage name of Mata Hari (meaning sunrise or eye of the day) and suggested that her mother had been an Indian temple dancer or that she had grown up in a Java jungle.

A six-month contract to dance at the Metropole left her marooned in Berlin when war broke out (August, 1914) and her fur coats and money were seized. Reported to be recruiting spies, the German consul to Holland, Karl Kroemer, awarded her 20,000 francs and the code name H21.

Since taking money from a man for services rendered never troubled Mata, she poured out the invisible ink and went on her way. Traveling through Britain to avoid the front-line of fighting, the free-spirited exotic dancer was “thoroughly searched and nothing incriminating was found, she is regarded by police and military to be not above suspicion”.

Suspicion of what is the question?

According to a British Intelligence report, she “speaks French, English, Italian, Dutch and probably German. Handsome, bold type of woman”.

Could fluency in four, maybe five languages be the answer?

In Pat Shipman’s 2007 biography of Mata Hari, Femme Fatale, he argues, “The problem was not what Mata Hari said, but who she was”. Could a wealthy, well-educated, foreign-appearing woman traveling alone who openly admitted to having a lover be trusted? Apparently not in that day and time.

Often rumors found their way into her dossier. “One suspects her of having gone to France on an important mission that will profit the Germans.”

Back in Paris, two secret police steamed open her letters, questioned waitresses, porters and hairdressers. All information pointed to her life of promiscuity but not espionage.

Her mad life continued until Zelle faced off with the ambitious head of French Intelligence, Captain Georges Ladoux, over a travel permit. Ladoux viewed her as a prostitute. Mata thought him narrow-minded and coarse. Her promise to spy for France ended their battle of words.

Contending that the dancer’s notoriety made her a poor candidate for clandestine activities, Shipman states that she was frequently the center of attention with her comings and goings often reported in gossip columns. But in the case of Josephine Baker (see previous post), her celebrity status paved the way for espionage. Another similarity: neither lady shied away from exposing their feminine attributes for all to see.

A warrant issued for Mata’s arrest in February, 1917, contended that she had traded French secrets instead of German maneuvers in North Africa for one million francs. Subsequently tried and found guilty, Mata was shot by an early morning firing squad on October 15, 1917.

Was it a witch hunt conducted by small-minded men?

Were the rumors magnified by the anti-German spy mania prevalent in France with the Kaiser’s troops at its border?

Did Captain Georges Ladoux exploit Mata Hari to enhance his career?

Was she a resourceful courtesan who exchanged sexual favors and war secrets at the same time for money?

You be the judge!

(All quotations have been taken from Femme Fatale by Pat Shipman.)

But in the poorest countries of the world: a penny can purchase a pencil, 2 pennies, an eraser; 15 coppers, a notebook; 2,000 pennies or $20, student supplies for a year; $300, an annual high school scholarship and $500, one teacher’s yearly salary.

Pennies for Peace, a mission that enables the world’s children to help their less fortunate peers, is a component of the CAI (Central Asia Institute) founded by Greg Mortenson and its main philanthropist, Jean Hoerni.

The best-selling novel, Three Cups of Tea, chronicles Mortenson’s incredible adventures in the remotest parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan while he promotes education for some of the poorest children of the world. (See previous post.)

Trying to raise money for the Korphe school, this emergency room nurse sold his possessions, worked long hours at the hospital and lived out of his car. When a group of elementary school children in River Falls, Wisconsin, donated $623.40 in pennies, others were inspired into action. Shortly before his death from leukemia, Jean Hoerni endowed CAI with a million dollars and the work began in earnest.

In 2000, 800,000 Pakistani and Afghani boys, ages 5-15, received schooling. Today, students number 7.2 million with 2 million of those being girls. Even the Taliban shut down of 500 Afghani school and 250 others in Pakistan in 2007 (mostly schools for girls), couldn’t curtail the amazing increase.

According to Mortenson, educating the village girls is especially important. When girls learn, they often teach their mothers and others in the village setting. Classes include math, English, Pakistan studies-history, Urdu, Islamic studies, and science. CAI added hygiene and nutrition plus  a workbook covering local culture, tradition, and folklore.

Typically, young men recruited for Jihad, generally understood in the West as holy war on behalf of Islam, must ask their mother’s permission, but an educated woman is less likely to permit her son’s involvement in extremist’s groups, he added.

Critics contend that the initial efforts of the CAI, as described in Three Cups of Tea, would have been “far more effective if Mortenson had delegated more leadership to the Pakistani men and women whom he knew and trusted”.

True, the single-minded Mortenson was insistent about meeting with everyone himself and personally visiting every single project.  Foolishly, the energetic American ventured into an Afghanistan war zone sans bodyguard.

However, looking at the CAI web site today, the necessity for community communication and involvement is clearly outlined.  If Mortenson had exhibited traits of the stereotypical ‘ugly American,’ he would not be accepted and loved by the elders, tribal chiefs and military commanders — people normally hesitant to work with a westerner.

Taking extra time to ingratiate himself with the elders makes it easier for Mortenson to gain village support and guarantee the safety of teachers and buildings. “There’s a millennium old tribal tradition that the elders are in charge,” he points out, “and they are to be respected as the decision makers and arbitrators.”

How much more could be accomplished if all peoples would realize that the universal need every human being has for food, water, shelter, hope and love is what binds each of us to our neighbors around the world.

For additional information or to donate go to: http://gregmortenson.com, www.penniesforpeace.org, or www.ikat.org.

The Persian Pickle, of course. (see previous post)

The paisley, a droplet-shaped vegetable motif of Persian and Indian origin, has oftentimes been called a Persian Pickle by American traditionalists and quilters as far back as 1818.

The design emerged in Persia or Iran as early as 1501. From then on until 1736, the twisted teardrop adorned crowns and court garments.

Still a popular motif today in south and central Asian countries,  silk is woven with richly colored threads of  gold and  silver for weddings garments and dresses for that special occasion.

But paisley is not just for wearing. In Uzbekistan as well as Iran, the pattern enriches paintings, jewelry, frescoes, curtains, tablecloths, quilts, carpets, garden landscaping and pottery.

Imported by the East India Company in the 1600s, the popularity of the design, resembling a large comma, grew to such an extent that the company failed to keep up with the demand.

In the 1700s and 1800s, inhabitants of the European Baltic States made use of the paisley as a protective charm to ward off evil demons.

The pattern acquired its name from the town of Paisley in central Scotland. After soldiers, returning from India, brought back cashmere shawls for their wives, mothers and sweethearts, every woman wanted one of her own.

In the first half of the 19th century, Scottish weavers led all others in  producing the five-color, paisley-patterned shawl. Ten years later, in 1860, the number of colors had been increased to 15 – still only one-fourth of the number of the colors on the imported Kashmir shawls.

Later, manufacturers learned how to print the paisley motif onto cotton squares which became the multi-purpose bandanna of today.

In the U. S., the comma-like shape appeared frequently in the  style of clothing favored by the ‘hippies’ of the 60s and 70s. The Beatles‘ trip to India in 1968, increased interest in that country’s spirituality, culture and design. In 1967, John Lennon commissioned a custom-painted Rolls Royce with the popular teardrop design.

Guitar makers  at Fender stuck paisley-patterned wallpaper on the bodies of their instruments to create the Pink Persian version of the Telecaster. A slightly more modern recording artist, Prince, paid homage to the paisley influence by creating the Paisley Park recording label and establishing the Paisley Park Studios.

Whether you wear it, walk on it, gaze adoringly at it, or sleep under it, the Persian Pickle or paisley design has delighted millions throughout the last 500 years of fashion.  At our house, it graces the hall bathroom in the form of a decorative shower curtain.  Where can it be found in your home?

Years of teaching law at both the University of Botswana as well as the University of Edinburgh has given this prolific novelist a keen sense of justice plus a charming and cheerful means of presenting information.

When speaking of her previous African experience, McCall Smith placed the following words in the mouth of Mrs. Andrea Curtin: “People suffered here, and many of them had very little, but they had this wonderful feeling for others.” (Tears of the Giraffe)

Utterly alone, after her husband’s death from pancreatic cancer, the American woman returns to Gaborone seeking information regarding the disappearance of her son, Michael. Having lost a child herself, the lady detective shares the same, “sadness that never goes away,” and accepts a case even the police couldn’t solve 10 years ago. “I shall help you, my sister,” was her compassionate reply.

While McCall Smith may not be consciously preaching love your neighbor as yourself, the principle sneaks into his prose anyway.  Possibly, his intent was nothing more than painting a positive picture of the country and people of Botswana. In the author’s mind, Mma Precious Ramotswe may not be classified as a Good Samaritan just another fine example of a caring African woman. Running a close second in understanding others, Mma Grace Makutsi defers her paycheck until the struggling agency begins to turn a profit. (The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency)

In Chapter 7, ‘The Girl with 3 Lives,’  Mma Ramotswe spends considerable time contemplating moral behavior in several different aspects. (Morality For Beautiful Girls)

• The employment and treatment of servants : Well-paid owners of  large houses are obliged to employ servants, maintained the lady detective, after ending her friendship with an uncaring woman who boasted of  cutting the maid’s wages.
• Do really bad people like: Ugandan military dictator, Idi Amin,  and the Prime Minister of South African, Henrik Verwoerd, have friends?
• To what code of mortality should an African adhere: The old Botswana morality? The Ten Commandments?

Also in Morality for Beautiful Girls, the writer dramatizes today’s disturbing lack of principles by handing Mma Makutsi her first case. This secretary turned detective is given three days to determine the honesty of the four finalists vying for the title of Miss Botswana.  With time running short, the fledgling sleuth seeks help from one of the garage apprentices, to pinpoint the recipient most suited for the honor.

Knowing that children are good for Botswana, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni allows the matron at the Orphan Farm to coerce him into adopting two children. Secretly hoping that the boy, Puso, will be interested in cars, the mechanic dreams of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors becoming a family business managed by father and son.

Can’t you just see the author’s impish grin when he leaves the boy drawing a picture in a patch of oil and pushes 12-year-old Motholeli forward in her wheel chair?  “But this girl, this strange serious child who had come into his life, had the makings of a mechanic.” Instead of grumpily warning the handicapped girl away from the greasy engines, the proprietor of Speedy Motors explains what needs to be done to fix the minibus.

To further emphasize the author’s belief in the capabilities of women, he bestows Mma Precious Ramotswe with amazing intuition and phenomenal powers of observation which enable her to become the first lady detective in Botswana.

Another example of female superiority can be found in book three when Mma Makutsi becomes Assistant Manager of Speedy Motors. Armed only with her 97% and knowledge of typewriters, the secretary reorganized the repair process keeping the apprentices working steadily. Her administrative skills even outshines those of the absentee proprietor. Now how’s that for an endorsement of the effectiveness of a female manager?

Readers and viewers of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency need not be reminded that the outspoken Grace Makutsi has  finely-tuned concepts of right and wrong. She expresses indignation when hard-working girls, such as herself, lose high-paying jobs to more glamorous competitors. She rails at the injustice of badly behaved women being labeled as “good-time girls” while their male counterparts remain blameless. Lastly, she blames mothers for the immaturity of their sons. Women who served their adult sons as one would a small child, “made him so immature in his treatment of women”.

In a recent Time article, Gilbert Cruz characterized Alexander McCall Smith’s books as, “simple, light-hearted mysteries”. Evidently Cruz missed the high moral fiber of the main characters, their intelligent dialogue and profound thoughts sprinkled in and around the plot elements.

Readers be prepared: cracking open a novel by Alexander McCall Smith will not only be enjoyable, but thought provoking at the same time.

Touted as “The Miss Marple of Botswana” by the New York Times Book Review, Mma Precious Ramotswe came to life in Gaborone just recently, 1999 to be exact.  For her workday attire, the 35-year-old lady detective chooses  from a vast wardrobe of elaborately patterned A-line dresses in the rich African hues of orange, yellow and green.  Rarely is she seen in the HBO series without a bright headband, or intricately knotted scarf covering her dark hair.

Wherein lies the link between these two very different fictional characters?

While Miss Maple might be a tall, thin English lady with white curls arranged around her crinkled pink face,  Mma Ramotswe is described as a traditionally built African woman, size 22.   Pushing these obviously diverse physical characteristics aside, the reader soon discovers that both  ladies rely strongly on their powers of observation.

“My hobby is studying people, ” claimed Miss Marple, “human nature if you will.” As one of the guests At Bertram’s Hotel (1965) observed, “She sees everything”.

At the age of four, Precious “watched everybody and everything with her wide solemn eyes”. With the cousin’s help, “the qualities of curiosity and awareness were nurtured in the child’s mind”.

While visiting the ruins of a long defunct agricultural experiment (Tears ofthe Giraffe, 2000), the perceptive lady detective feels that she’s very close to understanding what had happened there to the missing Michael Curtin.  Unable to voice her feelings, Mma Ramotswe  knew that his spirit lingered there in that place.

As if respectful of her character’s advanced age,  Dame Agatha Christie seldom pushes her elderly sleuth physically into an investigation.  Miss Marple rarely steps center stage.  Instead she prefers to quietly observe, ask polite questions and drop a few selected stitches from her knitting needles.

In The Mirror Crack’d (1962) Miss Marple leaves her home no more than three times throughout the entire novel.  Recovering from a bout of bronchitis,  the English spinster could not attend the fete at Gossington Hall.  Kept abreast of local gossip by Mrs. Bantry, former owner of the hall; Ms. Knight, the overbearing nurse/companion and Chief Inspector Dermot Craddock, Miss Marple solves the triple murder and sends Gladys, the dressmaking canteen worker, to Bournemouth, to prevent her from being killed, too.

Describing herself as a strong woman,  Mma Ramotswe advances far beyond the information gathering process making momentous decisions about the case under investigation.

For example, in the case of the woman whose husband had acquired a stolen Mercedes Benz, she calls her policeman friend, Billy Pilani, and arranges for the return of the car to its owner. (The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, 1999, & Tears of the Giraffe, 2000)

Additionally, she decided  not to report the fraudulent insurance claims of the man with thirteen fingers to the police.  (The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, 1999, & Tears of the Giraffe, 2000)

Critics have often criticized Christie’s disregard of the lush tropical settings found in such books as A Caribbean Mystery (1964) in order to direct the reader’s focus firmly on the characters.  Even  though Miss Marple had been sent to  the luxurious Golden Palm Hotel on the Caribbean island of St. Honere by her doting nephew Raymond West, she expressed discontent.   “So many palm trees.  Everything the same every day–never anything happening.”

Not true of author, Alexander McCall Smith, who exalts in the scenery and people of Botswana.   He places the unoccupied Mma Ramotswe under her acacia tree in the dust with the chickens.  On another occasion, a snake crawls into the motor of her tiny white van.  Dust covers everything, even car parts, except in the rainy season when everything turns green once more.  Setting The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series  anywhere else would rip the  heart from the  delightful stories.

( A favorite shot, repeated frequently in the HBO series, pictures  the small white van (truck) flying down a long, deserted highway kicking up a rich red plume of dust as it quickly moves off into the distance.)

Both lady detectives live reluctantly in the modern world but revere the manners, politeness and morality of the past.  The soon-to-be wife of Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni and mother of two orphaned children, Precious yearns for her father who “would have shown them the old Botswana morality and brought them to an understanding of what it is to live an honourable life”.

Wealthy novelist nephew Raymond often accuses  his dear Aunt Jane of burying her “head in the sand like a very delightful ostrich”.  Sending modern novels only exasperated the maiden lady even more.  ” So difficult–all about unpleasant people, doing such very odd things and not, apparently, even enjoying them.”

Whether it be woman’s intuition, gossip, or just plain observation, both female sleuths display an amazing ability to solve the problems created by their respective authors.  Which is your favorite?

**A complete listing of Agatha Christie’s mysteries featuring Miss Marple can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Marple.

]]> http://www.bookclubcompanion.com/commentary/another-miss-marple/feed 0 http://www.bookclubcompanion.com/commentary/last-word-on-letters http://www.bookclubcompanion.com/commentary/last-word-on-letters#comments Sat, 11 Apr 2009 01:07:00 +0000 Linda http://bookclubcompanion.wordpress.com/?p=179 Over the years, the letter has served mankind well as a means of communication.

In The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, journalist Juliet Ashton employed the letter to gather research for her latest writing project. Through this cross channel exchange, Juliet learned about the island, the  society’s taste in books and the impact of  German occupation on their tiny homeland.

In 84 Charing Cross Road, Helene Hanff originally used the letter as a purchase order for out-of-print, hard-to-find books.  Later the transatlantic correspondence fostered a deep friendship between Hanff and bookseller, Frank Doel.

In Founding Mothers, letters crisscrossed the original 13 colonies with private news, political opinions, pleas for money and accounts of war and an emerging nation.

Has the letter become obsolete in our society of cell phones, laptops and text messaging?
In ancient times, the written message was scratched onto leather or papyrus with a goose quill or split reed dipped in sticky ink.  The average piece of papyrus held roughly 140 words. Penning three syllables required one minute and an hour’s work resulted in about 72 words.

When completed, the short letter was folded before being sealed with pitch or wax.  A long letter would be wrapped in another sheet of papyrus before being tied with a small cord and then sealed.

In contrast, today’s technology has made written communication almost effortless.
Major corporations especially those with a global presence are switching to Instant Messaging (IM) instead of telephone and voice mail communication.   Corresponding via IM is less intrusive, more concise and can  sometimes prevent misunderstandings.

The adage, ‘open mouth – insert foot’, would no longer apply since few of us can write without some forethought. Other attributes include: communication with more than one person at a time and recordability.

Granted, an IM print out does not resemble the letter of days gone by, but it’s written communication, isn’t it.

What’s wrong with composing a letter using the family PC?
Busy families find the computer a valuable tool when compiling the once-a-year, Christmas letter.   The ‘brag sheet’ has earned its derogatory name since many proud parents use the holidays as a time to boast about their family’s accomplishments.

To make your Christmas letter enjoyable for all:

• Use everyday words so your recipients  can ‘hear’  you.
• Cut down on the use of unnecessary adjectives, too.
• Read your letter aloud – does it flow?  Is it interesting?
• It’s hard, but try not to exaggerate – let the events speak for themselves.
• Focus on the highlights of the year – one or two typed pages should be sufficient.  If not, write another letter in a few months.
• Digital photography makes it easy to  liven up your letter with photos.

Remember who will be reading the letter.  The pages  should entertain those who aren’t familiar with the daily happenings of your household, but still hold the attention of close family members.

(After my aunt had raved about our Christmas letter for several years,  my mother demanded a copy  for herself.   Since we kept in close contact with Mother during the year, I never imagined she’d want a repeat of old news.  She did!!)

Be sure to finish off with a personal, handwritten note at the end.  If you get writer’s block every December, try the instant Christmas story generator at www.christmaslettertips.com and just fill in the blanks.

For pain-free communication, try the Eee PC, a miniature laptop small enough to fit in a purse.  With a battery life of four to six hours, the writer can comfortably compose a letter, update a blog, or send an e-mail while enjoying the great outdoors or a cup of coffee at the local bookstore.

Realistically speaking, the days of the handwritten letter on perfumed stationary are dead and gone.  Whether it be instant messaging, e-mail, blogging or a conventional letter, staying in touch with those you love has never been easier. Give it a try!!