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The Full Cupboard of Life
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The Full Cupboard of Life
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series, Book 5
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THE NO. 1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY - Book 5

Fans around the world adore the best-selling No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series and its proprietor, Precious Ramotswe, Botswana's premier lady detective. In this charming series, Mma Ramotswe—with help from her loyal associate, Grace Makutsi—navigates her cases and her personal life with wisdom, good humor, and the occasional cup of tea.

Still engaged to the estimable Mr J.L.B. Matekoni, Mma Ramotswe understands that she should not put too much pressure on him, as he has other concerns, especially a hair-raising request from the ever persuasive Mma Potokwane, matron of the orphan farm. Besides Mma Ramotswe herself has weighty matters on her mind. She has been approached by a wealthy lady to check up on several suitors. Are these men interested in the lady or just her money? This may be a difficult case, but it's just the kind of problem Mma Ramotswe likes and she is, as we know, a very intuitive lady.
THE NO. 1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY - Book 5

Fans around the world adore the best-selling No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series and its proprietor, Precious Ramotswe, Botswana's premier lady detective. In this charming series, Mma Ramotswe—with help from her loyal associate, Grace Makutsi—navigates her cases and her personal life with wisdom, good humor, and the occasional cup of tea.

Still engaged to the estimable Mr J.L.B. Matekoni, Mma Ramotswe understands that she should not put too much pressure on him, as he has other concerns, especially a hair-raising request from the ever persuasive Mma Potokwane, matron of the orphan farm. Besides Mma Ramotswe herself has weighty matters on her mind. She has been approached by a wealthy lady to check up on several suitors. Are these men interested in the lady or just her money? This may be a difficult case, but it's just the kind of problem Mma Ramotswe likes and she is, as we know, a very intuitive lady.
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Copies-
  • Available:
    1
  • Library copies:
    1
Levels-
  • ATOS:
    6.0
  • Lexile:
  • Interest Level:
    UG
  • Text Difficulty:
    4 - 5

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Excerpts-
  • Chapter ONE A Great Sadness among the Cars of Botswana

    Precious Ramotswe was sitting at her desk at the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency in Gaborone. From where she sat she could gaze out of the window, out beyond the acacia trees, over the grass and the scrub bush, to the hills in their blue haze of heat. It was such a noble country, and so wide, stretching for mile upon mile to brown horizons at the very edge of Africa. It was late summer, and there had been good rains that year. This was important, as good rains meant productive fields, and productive fields meant large, ripened pumpkins of the sort that traditionally built ladies like Mma Ramotswe so enjoyed eating. The yellow flesh of a pumpkin or a squash, boiled and then softened with a lump of butter (if one's budget stretched to that), was one of God's greatest gifts to Botswana. And it tasted so good, too, with a slice of fine Botswana beef, dripping in gravy.

    Oh yes, God had given a great deal to Botswana, as she had been told all those years ago at Sunday school in Mochudi. "Write a list of Botswana's heavenly blessings," the teacher had said. And the young Mma Ramotswe, chewing on the end of her indelible pencil, and feeling the sun bearing down on the tin roof of the Sunday school, heat so insistent that the tin creaked in protest against its restraining bolts, had written: (1) the land; (2) the people who live on the land; (3) the animals, and specially the fat cattle. She had stopped at that, but, after a pause, had added: (4) the railway line from Lobatse to Francistown. This list, once submitted for approval, had come back with a large blue tick after each item, and the comment written in: Well done, Precious! You are a sensible girl. You have correctly shown why Botswana is a fortunate country.

    And this was quite true. Mma Ramotswe was indeed a sensible person and Botswana was a fortunate country. When Botswana had become independent all those years ago, on that heart-stilling night when the fireworks failed to be lit on time, and when the dusty wind had seemed to augur only ill, there had been so little. There were only three secondary schools for the whole country, a few clinics, and a measly eight miles of tarred road. That was all. But was it? Surely there was a great deal more than that. There was a country so large that the land seemed to have no limits; there was a sky so wide and so free that the spirit could rise and soar and not feel in the least constrained; and there were the people, the quiet, patient people, who had survived in this land, and who loved it. Their tenacity was rewarded, because underneath the land there were the diamonds, and the cattle prospered, and brick by brick the people built a country of which anybody could be proud. That was what Botswana had, and that is why it was a fortunate country.

    Mma Ramotswe had founded the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by selling the cattle left her by her father, Obed Ramotswe, a good man whom everybody respected. And for this reason she made sure that his picture was on the office wall, alongside, but slightly lower than, the picture of the late President of Botswana, Sir Seretse Khama, paramount chief of the Bangwato, founding president of Botswana, and gentleman. The last of these attributes was perhaps the most important in Mma Ramotswe's eyes. A man could be a hereditary ruler, or an elected president, but not be a gentleman, and that would show in his every deed. But if you had a leader who was a gentleman, with all that this meant, then you were lucky indeed. And Botswana had been very lucky in that respect, because all three of her presidents had been good men, gentlemen, who were...
About the Author-
  • Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the huge international phenomenon, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, and The Sunday Philosophy Club series. He is a professor of medical law at Edinburgh University. He was born in what is now known as Zimbabwe and he was a law professor at the University of Botswana. He lives in Scotland.
Reviews-
  • Publisher's Weekly

    Starred review from March 29, 2004
    Precious Ramotswe is on the case again in this delightful fifth installment in the bestselling No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, this time assisting the self-made founder of a chain of hairdressing salons who wants to unearth the real intentions of her four suitors, each possibly more interested in her money than her heart. As fans know, though, sleuthing takes second place to folksy storytelling in McCall Smith's wry novels. This time around, Mma Ramotswe is distracted by her long-prolonged engagement to Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, Gaborone's best mechanic; it seems she will never be married, despite her fiancé's honorable intentions. He installs an extra large seatbelt in her car to keep her safe (she is quite comfortable with her "traditional build," despite the new, slender fashion of modern woman), but an altercation with another mechanic and the prospect of a charity parachute jump keep his mind off matrimony. A drive for decency motivates Mma Ramotswe and her friends—among them Mma Potokwani, the imperious matron of the local orphan farm, and Mma Makutsi, assistant at the Ladies' Detective Agency and founder of the Kalahari Typing School for Men—and Smith's talent is in portraying this moral code in a manner that is always engaging. As readers will appreciate, Mma Ramotswe solves her cases—more questions of character, really, than of criminal behavior—in good time. Traditionally built ladies living in the African heat don't tend to hurry, and, at the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, there's always time for another cup of tea. Agent, Robin Straus
    . (Apr. 20)

    Forecast:
    Fans will love the surprise in store for Precious Ramotswe at the end of the novel, and should bump this on bestseller lists.

  • Library Journal

    December 1, 2003
    In the fifth outing for the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, agency proprietress Precious Ramotswe is anticipating marriage, but a certain Madame Potokami is putting demands on the groom-to-be. With a 150,000-copy first printing.

    Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

  • School Library Journal

    October 1, 2004
    Adult/High School -In this fifth installment about the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Mma Ramotswe and her assistant, Mma Makutsi, tackle the case of a wealthy woman who wants to know which of her suitors is only after her money. On a personal note, Mma Ramotswe worries over when her fianc will set a date for their marriage, and more urgently, who will replace him in performing the parachute jump, a charity event to raise money for the Orphan Farm. The charm of this series set in Botswana is its wealth of very real characters. By Western standards they may be economically poor, but in terms of pride, love, and happiness, they are rich indeed. Readers will be seduced by the beauty of the land and intrigued by local customs. They will learn about drought and irrigation, about growing pumpkins, braiding hair, and dealing with poisonous snakes. The cases Mma Ramotswe handles are more about solving problems than crimes. Her behavior is governed by good manners, politeness, and honesty, and her favorite tool in the art of detecting is tea, preferably Bush Tea. The book has lots of humor, and optimism softens the tough realities of life. It also has a delightful surprise ending.-Sheila Janega, Fairfax County Public Library, Great Falls, VA

    Copyright 2004 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

  • Booklist

    February 1, 2004
    The runaway success of Smith's No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, set in Botswana and starring the irrepressible Mma Precious Ramotswe, has been fueled by significant crossover interest among those who usually don't read crime fiction. That's hardly surprising since Mma Ramotswe's investigations expose the mysteries of the human heart far more than they do the wrongdoing of criminals. In this latest installment, for example, Mma Ramotswe is hired to determine the suitability of four suitors interested in marrying the wealthy Mma Holonga. Meanwhile, our heroine broods about whether her own long-term engagement to Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni is likely to result in marriage anytime soon. Fortunately, the meandering plot allows plenty of room for appearances by recurring supporting characters, including Mma Makutsi, secretary and assistant detective, and Mma Slyvia Potokwani, operator of the local "orphan farm" and all-round busybody. The tremendous appeal of this delightful series comes from the unique manner in which Smith mixes the charm of both traditional and contemporary village cozies (from Miss Marple to the Maggody novels) with a comical Runyonesque formality of language and a grasp of human relations that is very like Jane Austen (Mma Ramotswe, in fact, has a lot of Emma in her). You can bet that one day soon this series will turn up on public television.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)

  • The Seattle Times "Beguiling. . . . The author's deceptively simple prose . . . is as supple as ever. His gift for effortless description of dusty, sun-baked Africa is undiminished."
  • The New York Times Book Review "Smith's big-hearted Botswana stories...[allow] his readers to escape into a world of simple, picturesque pleasures and upstanding virtues."
  • Entertainment Weekly "Brims with the same old-fashioned charm as its lovely predecessors.... An engaging read."
  • Dallas Morning News "The Full Cupboard of Life is a treasure of wit and wisdom. Read it and you will find yourself very much like Botswanans on happy occasions: ululating with pleasure."
  • San Francisco Chronicle "Delightful. . . . The warm humanity . . . is what brings readers back. . . . There is a simplicity and lyricism in [the] language that brings out the profound importance of . . . everyday revelations."
  • USA Today "Enthralling. . . . [Mma Ramotswe] is someone readers can't help but love. . . . A well-told story."
  • The Wall Street Journal "The greatest mystery in this witty and charming book is whether Mma Ramotswe will succeed in getting her fiance to name a date for their long-anticipated wedding. It's hard to conceive of any reader not being just as eager to find out as she is."
  • People "Soothing. . . . Full of authentic African touches. New readers can start here . . . and enjoy a plot even more inventive than the earlier ones."
  • Newsday "[McCall Smith's] accomplished novels . . . [are] dependent on small gestures redolent with meaning and main characters blessed with pleasing personalities. . . . Not so much conventional mysteries, these novels are gentle probes into the mysteries of human nature."
  • Time "[The] prose is gentle, easing the reader through Ramotswe's world of crimes of virtue and social misdemeanors."
  • The Christian Science-Monitor "Today, when most books about Africa describe hardship, Alexander McCall Smith brings us further glimpses of Mma Precious Ramotswe and her friends that refresh our souls. . . . . We become caught up in the lives of these gentle Botswanans. We share a mug of bush tea with them, and sit together under the shade of a jacaranda."
  • The Guardian (London) "Witty, elegant, compassionate and exotic. . . . [McCall Smith is] a treasure of a writer whose books deserve immediate devouring."
  • The New York Sun "Delightful. . . . Up to the high standard established with the first book and each succeeding one. . . . The relentless warmth, generosity, cheerfulness, and simple wisdom of the heroine are guaranteed to charm you."
  • Toronto Globe and Mail "The Full Cupboard of Life delivers . . . the perfect journey to a faraway place. . . . Mma Ramotswe, her able assistant Mma Makutsi and her fianc?, Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni, are brilliant creations. . . . McCall Smith's unique voice, with its African rhythms, elegant, formal turns of phrase and subtle humor . . . is remarkable."
  • Houston Chronicle "Warm, witty and filled with cultural aphorisms, a good-hearted book. . . . It is, all told, a book about the rich stock of experiences that make a full life, and the human vagaries involved in living."
  • W ?magazine "What makes the stories so charming is their vivid sense of place."
  • The New Orleans Times-Picayune "An act of divine ventriloquism. . . . [Smith] give[s] voice to the life and work, sorrows and joys, of the only lady detective in Gaborone, Botswana. . . . There is deep wisdom [here]."
  • The Independent (London) "A reassuring book, calm, good-humored . . . strong on winsome charm. . . . McCall Smith's writing . . . harks back to a more tranquil age, where gentle ironies and strict proprieties prevail. . . . The pleasure of the novel lies in its simplicity."
  • Marie Claire "Addictive. . . . Our reviewer was so entertained, she bought the rest of the series!"
  • The Harford Courant "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith could put the entire self-help shelf out of business. His sturdy heroine, Precious Ramotswe, exudes a simple wisdom so e
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