The Full Cupboard of Life - Hardcover

McCall Smith, Alexander

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0676975704 ISBN 13: 9780676975703

Publisher: Knopf Canada, 2004

Synopsis

Here is the fifth novel in the internationally bestselling No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency hit series. Once again we are transported to Gaborone, capital city of Botswana, and into the world of Mma Ramotswe and her friends.

THE NO. 1 LADIES’ DETECTIVE AGENCY.
FOR ALL CONFIDENTIAL MATTERS AND ENQUIRIES. SATISFACTION GUARANTEED FOR ALL PARTIES.
UNDER PERSONAL MANAGEMENT.

Mma Ramotswe and Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni are still engaged, but with no immediate plans to get married. Mma Ramotswe wonders when a wedding date will be named, but she is anxious to avoid putting pressure on her fiancé. For indeed he has other things on his mind -- particularly a frightening request (involving a parachute jump) made by Mma Potokwani, the persuasive matron of the orphan farm.

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 her or just her money? This may be difficult to find out, but it’s just the kind of case Mma Ramotswe likes and she is, as we know, a very intuitive lady.

Meanwhile, Mma Makutsi -- plucky assistant detective and deputy manager of the Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors garage -- is moving. Her entrepreneurial venture, the Kalahari Typing School for Men, is thriving and with this new income she has rented two rooms in a house. Her spare time is occupied with planning the move, the décor and her new life in a house with running water all to herself.

In the background of all this is Botswana, a country of empty spaces and echoing skies, a country so beautiful and entrancing that it breaks your heart. Mma Ramotswe has prepared the bush tea and is waiting for us to join her.

About this title

Review

Utterly enchanting. -- Chicago Sun-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 Seattle Times
"Smith's big-hearted Botswana stories...[allow] his readers to escape into a world of simple, picturesque pleasures and upstanding virtues." --The New York Times Book Review
Brims with the same old-fashioned charm as its lovely predecessors.... An engaging read. --Entertainment Weekly

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. Dallas Morning News
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. --San Francisco Chronicle

"Enthralling. . . . [Mma Ramotswe] is someone readers can't help but love. . . . A well-told story." --USA Today

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. --The Wall Street Journal

Soothing. . . . Full of authentic African touches. New readers can start here . . . and enjoy a plot even more inventive than the earlier ones. --People

[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. --Newsday
"[The] prose is gentle, easing the reader through Ramotswe's world of crimes of virtue and social misdemeanors." --Time

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 Seattle Times
"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 Christian Science-Monitor

"Witty, elegant, compassionate and exotic. . . . [McCall Smith is] a treasure of a writer whose books deserve immediate devouring." --The Guardian (London)
"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." --The New York Sun

"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." --Toronto Globe and Mail

"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." --Houston Chronicle

What makes the stories so charming is their vivid sense of place. --W ?magazine

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. --Dallas Morning News
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 New Orleans Times-Picayune

"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." --The Independent (London)
Addictive. . . . Our reviewer was so entertained, she bought the rest of the series! --Marie Claire

"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 engaging that it is difficult to put down the books about her. . . . After getting to know these characters so well, it would be difficult not to love them." --The Harford Courant

"Wonderful. . . . Richly drawn characters. . . . A vivid portrait of life in Botswana." --The Buffalo News

"Breezy and entertaining. . . . [McCall Smith] paints the books' unlikely setting . . . with rainbow colors, providing a stark contrast to the continent's oft-bleak portraits." --Wisconsin State Journal

"[Even] more satisfying and uplifting that its predecessors. . . . The dramas of daily life are described in an elegantly understated prose that is full of small delights. . . . Gentle humor blends pleasingly with good African common sense. . . . In the good land that is Botswana, the cupboard of life is indeed overflowing with goodness." --Winston-Salem Journal"

"Utterly enchanting." -- Chicago Sun-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 Seattle Times
"Smith's big-hearted Botswana stories...[allow] his readers to escape into a world of simple, picturesque pleasures and upstanding virtues." --The New York Times Book Review
"Brims with the same old-fashioned charm as its lovely predecessors.... An engaging read." --Entertainment Weekly

"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." --Dallas Morning News
"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." --San Francisco Chronicle

"Enthralling. . . . [Mma Ramotswe] is someone readers can't help but love. . . . A well-told story." --USA Today

"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." --The Wall Street Journal

"Soothing. . . . Full of authentic African touches. New readers can start here . . . and enjoy a plot even more inventive than the earlier ones." --People

"[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." --Newsday
"[The] prose is gentle, easing the reader through Ramotswe's world of crimes of virtue and social misdemeanors." --Time

"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 Seattle Times
"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 Christian Science-Monitor

"Witty, elegant, compassionate and exotic. . . . [McCall Smith is] a treasure of a writer whose books deserve immediate devouring." --The Guardian (London)
"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." --The New York Sun

"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." --Toronto Globe and Mail

"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." --Houston Chronicle

"What makes the stories so charming is their vivid sense of place." --W ?magazine

"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." --Dallas Morning News
"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 New Orleans Times-Picayune

"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." --The Independent (London)
"Addictive. . . . Our reviewer was so entertained, she bought the rest of the series!" --Marie Claire

"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 engaging that it is difficult to put down the books about her. . . . After getting to know these characters so well, it would be difficult not to love them." --The Harford Courant

"Wonderful. . . . Richly drawn characters. . . . A vivid portrait of life in Botswana." --The Buffalo News

"Breezy and entertaining. . . . [McCall Smith] paints the books' unlikely setting . . . with rainbow colors, providing a stark contrast to the continent's oft-bleak portraits." --Wisconsin State Journal

"[Even] more satisfying and uplifting that its predecessors. . . . The dramas of daily life are described in an elegantly understated prose that is full of small delights. . . . Gentle humor blends pleasingly with good African common sense. . . . In the good land that is Botswana, the cupboard of life is indeed overflowing with goodness." --Winston-Salem Journal

Book Description

*The fifth in the No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series
*Highly original 'detective' stories with unique setting and characters for people who are fed up with aggressive literature which dwells on selfishness, discourtesy and conflict.

About this edition

• Publisher: Knopf Canada
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0676975704
• ISBN 13: 9780676975703
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 208