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?

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/character-sketch/a-unanimous-decision http://www.bookclubcompanion.com/character-sketch/a-unanimous-decision#comments Mon, 06 Apr 2009 19:11:23 +0000 Linda http://bookclubcompanion.wordpress.com/?p=113 All six members of the subdivision book club, in attendance last week, loved the main character of The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.

Created by African-born, Alexander McCall Smith, Mma Precious Ramotswe first appeared in print in 1999 and lately, in a 2007 film. Presently, McCall Smith’s series of eleven books, to date, have become the subject of a Sunday evening series on HBO.     (See post #5)

But what makes the protagonist such an admired and admirable individual?

Firstly, the detective is comfortable with who she is, a traditionally built African lady, size 22.  Fond of reading interior design magazines in bed, Mma Ramotswe scorns those “terrible, stick-like figures” featured in their advertisements.

Exuding confidence in her detective  abilities, Precious ignores the disparaging remark uttered by one of three ultra-thin passersby, “How can an elephant go under cover?” and crosses the street with a purposeful step.   (This quote is taken from the movie.)

Secondly, the lady detective is appreciated because of her innate intelligence. “Qualities of curiosity and awareness were nurtured in her mind at an early age.”  Divorced and childless, her cousin taught Precious to count at the age of four.  Reciting car registration numbers and playing Kim’s game honed the child’s memory and observation skills to a sharp edge.

Answering her lawyer’s question: “Can women be detectives?” the female sleuth promptly replied, “Women are the ones who know what’s going on.   Women notice things that men do not”.

Readers also find Mma Ramotswe praiseworthy for her finely determined sense of right and wrong learned in five years of Sunday School.  Disliking Mr. Paliwalar Patel’s archaically rigid method of child rearing, the lady detective commented, “There comes a time when they must have their own lives.  We have to let go”.

Grudgingly, Mr.  Patel agrees to her modern ideas after Precious proved that 16-year-old Nandira  invented her boyfriend Jack, “just to bring a bit of freedom into her life”.

Lastly, Mma Ramotswe’s great love for  the land of Botswana, its people and her desire to do good in the time God has given her deserves commendation.

Learning that Solomon Moretsi has been using the money extorted from three  insurance companies  to support his parents, sick sister and her children, Precious vows not to alert the police.  Promising no more lost fingers, Moretsi commented, “You are a good Christian lady.  God is going to make it very easy for you in heaven.”

(The dialogue between Moretsi and Precious takes place under a tree  as the camera finds disabled and orphaned African children playing happily. Their carefree songs, exuberant dancing and pantomimes  featured at the film’s end are reminiscent of  the African Children’s  Choir concert last year at our church – an event not to be missed.)

This undeniable love for her fellow man drives the  lady detective  to snatch an 11-year-old boy from the clutches of a Witch Doctor and return him safely to the waiting arms of his father.

But even Shakespeare’s  greatest characters were flawed and so is Mma Precious Ramotswe.  As a first time book clubber pointed out, the love affair and  marriage to Note Mokoti seemed to be  inconsistent with the resourcefulness and intelligence of the book’s leading lady.

While speaking of past mistakes, Mma Ramotswe explained her actions thusly:  “Everybody is head strong at the age of 20.  We simply cannot see however much we think we can”.

And yet the reader/viewer finds Mma Ramotswe some 15 years later, an independent business woman with a strong belief in God, love for her country and fellow man with many many more mysteries to solve.

If you are in need of the services of a lady detective,  be sure to give Mma Precious Ramotswe a call.

]]> http://www.bookclubcompanion.com/character-sketch/a-unanimous-decision/feed 0 http://www.bookclubcompanion.com/commentary/alert-alert http://www.bookclubcompanion.com/commentary/alert-alert#comments Mon, 30 Mar 2009 15:08:21 +0000 Linda http://bookclubcompanion.wordpress.com/?p=89 If you love The  No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency novels by Alexander McCall Smith, don’t miss the pilot of the HBO series of the same name.

Check your local listings for additional showings of the movie this week, because HBO got it right!

No, the  writer/director,  Anthony Minghella, did not follow the exact plot line of the book, but all of  the essentials can be found sprinkled throughout the 105-minute  movie presentation.  The essentials being the beauty of the  sun-kissed land of Botswana, the happy songs of the children, and the evils of witchcraft still prevalent even in modern day.

Casting Grammy-winning singer, Jill Scott, as Precious Ramotswe was right on target.  Readers might expect a more mature leading lady, but Scott provides the humor and strength of character necessary for the role.

Too bad Scott’s  singing capabilities weren’t put to better use.  Maybe in future episodes of which there might be  6 or 13 – sources differ on the number at the moment.

Anika Noni Rose of Dreamgirls fame is a hilarious Mma Makutsi, the new detective agency secretary.  After hearing a client call Precious the “great big slut who has seduced my husband,” a stone-faced Makutsi quips, “I suspect that this is not a case for which we will be receiving payment”.

Desmond Dube, as gay hairdresser BK, is an addition to the list of characters found in McCall Smith’s books.  He pops up  with an engaging smile and cheerful advice every time Mma Ramotswe begins to despair.

As the mechanic JLB Matekoni, Lucian Msamati is very believable.  When Precious declines his softly spoken marriage proposal, the viewer can sense the character’s  regret even though the actor’s face remains stoic.

Look for episode #1 next Sunday evening on HBO.  It’s time well spent.