Woman Warrior of Africa By Michael McLean | March 13th, 2007
The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
Anchor Books; 1-4000-3477-9
This is a unique look at a number of interesting premises. Firstly, McCall Smith’s main character is female, and the narrative point of view includes her thoughts. Secondly, this particular detective agency is located in Botswana; not your typical detecting local. Thirdly, McCall Smith has a very clear grasp of the customs and tribal stresses and strains of the area that give the reader not only an understanding of the area, but a sympathy for their views that is very rare. Fourthly, there is the fact that the is no one single mystery driving the novel; it is merely a vehicle to introduce us to the owner of the No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, and tell us why she is in this business for herself. There are in fact a half dozen mysteries solved in the course of our meeting of Precious Ramotswe.
And Mme Mma Ramotswe (the proper respectful address for a woman in her position, though she is always known simply as Mma Ramotswe) is a warrior of the most obvious kind in the twentieth century. It is not only men who find Mma Ramotswe’s agency out of the ordinary. Her motives are probably the one’s you could expect from a woman who had lost an adored father, who had lost her one and only child, and who had spent all together too much time in an abusive marriage. Mma Ramotswe opened her agency “to help people with problems in their lives.” So she runs the only ladies’ detective agency - in fact it’s the only detective agency in Botswana. This does not mean that there are people racing to seek her aid.
Her first cases are women who are looking into the suspect behavior of their spouses. They are solved efficiently and with great dispatch. In one, she takes on a renegade crocodile, in the other, her proof that the client is right to suspect her husband’s behavior is not a welcome outcome. Eventually Mma Ramotswe gains respect for her abilities, and even the men folk of the community start coming to her for help. She is not afraid to challenge the status quo; in the form of the police, big businessmen or even a witch doctor. Her calm demeanor, determination, and sympathy for the troubled, makes Mma Ramotswe one of the easiest characters to like that a reader will ever come across.
McCall Smith is able to bring so much knowledge and sympathy to not only the character of Precious Ramotswe, but to Botswana itself because he was born early in the twentieth century under British Imperialism in what has become Zimbabwe. He also taught at the University of Botswana for a while, and his first hand knowledge of the people of this country make his book fascinating. His characters draw the reader into this wonderfully unfamiliar world. Though the views and traditions of the people are different, their troubles and triumphs are universal. A must read for anyone of either gender who fights for family, freedom, justice, and a nice shade tree. As Mma Ramotswe promises in her advertisement; “Satisfaction guaranteed for all parties.”
Michael McLean