Sonderbooks Book Review of In the Company of Cheerful Ladies

Reviewed April 22, 2005.
Polygon, Edinburgh, 2004. 231 pages.
Coming soon to Sembach Library (MCN F MCC).
Sonderbooks Stand-out 2005 (#5, Light-hearted Fiction)

I do so love the cheerful ladies of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. I’ve been listing the books as mysteries, but there are only a few incidental mysteries along the way. In this sixth book of the series, we wonder who is the man who fled from under Mma Ramotswe’s bed. Why was there a pumpkin on her verandah? Why is the apprentice acting so foolishly?

The bulk of the book is the simple day-to-day lives of Mma Ramotswe, her husband Mr J. L. B. Matekoni, and her assistant Mma Makutsi. I love the bits of wisdom scattered throughout the story. Here are some examples:

“There are many temptations in life, but cake is probably one of the biggest of them.”

“It was good to be able to share such things with someone else; the little jokes of life, the little absurdities.”

“A life without stories would be no life at all. And stories bound us, did they not, one to another, the living to the dead, people to animals, people to the land?”

“This is what redeems us, that is what makes our pain and sorrow bearable—this giving of love to others, this sharing of the heart.”

Truly to read this book is to spend time in the company of cheerful ladies.

Good news! A reader named Christian Gunnerup found the answer to my question about the pronunciation of “Mma” and “Rra”: “Mma is pronounced ‘ma’ (with a long ‘a’). Rra is pronounced ‘rar,’ but with a slight rolling of the second ‘r.’ Thanks so much, Christian!

Reviews of the other books in the series:
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (Book 1)
Tears of the Giraffe (Book 2)
Morality for Beautiful Girls (Book 3)
The Kalahari Typing School for Men (Book 4)
The Full Cupboard of Life (Book 5)
Blue Shoes and Happiness (Book 7)
The Good Husband of Zebra Drive (Book 8)
The Miracle at Speedy Motors (Book 9)
Tea Time for the Traditionally Built (Book 10)
The Double Comfort Safari Club (Book 11)
The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party (Book 12)
The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection (Book 13)
The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon (Book 14)
The Handsome Man's Deluxe Café (Book 15)
The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine (Book 16)
Precious and Grace (Book 17)
The House of Unexpected Sisters (Book 18)
The Colors of All the Cattle (Book 19)

Reviews of other books by Alexander McCall Smith:
The Great Cake Mystery
The Mystery of Meerkat Hill
The Sunday Philosophy Club
The Right Attitude to Rain
The Careful Use of Compliments
The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday
La's Orchestra Saves the World
The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs
Emma
My Italian Bulldozer
The Cowgirl Aunt of Harriet Bean

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Book Reviews by Sondra Eklund

*****In the Company of Cheerful Ladies*

by Alexander McCall Smith