“And where would we be in a world without the old Botswana morality?  It would not work, in Mma Romatswe’s view, because it would mean that people could do as they wished without regard for what others thought.  That would be a receipe for selfishness, a recipe as clear as if it were written out in a cookery book: Take one country, with all that the country means, with its kind people, and their smiles, and their habits of helping one another; ignore all this; shake about; add modern ideas; bake until ruined.”

It is clear from this series that Alexander McCall Smith loves Botswana and the people in it.  His respect is such that with each book that I read, he makes me want to visit Botswana someday all the more.

In this installment, we have an advice columnist, a cook, a hornbill, high blood pressure, uncomfortable chairs, and questions about being ‘traditionally built’ and feminism. Good fun as always!

2006, 227 pp.