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Book Review : Precious and Grace (The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency series) - Alexander McCall Smith

 

(Pic Courtesy : Amazon Kindle)

This is one of the other recommendations by Smt. Sudha Murthy as part of recommended reads for August. This book is supposed to be the 17th instalment in the No.1 Ladies Detective agency series comprising of Mma. Ramotswe along with her co-director Mma. Makutsi and other interesting staff of her agency. I thought this to be a more detective thriller sorts considering the title, but the genre of this book is quite different. This is not a thriller, but more of a life lesson book.

The story is set in Botswana, wherein the author provides a very in-depth and detailed picture of the evolving society of Botswana coupled with the conflict of the new vs old world ideas. While some characters reminisce in the glory of the days gone by, others talk about the fast changing nature of the society and its deep impact thereof. The book is a collection of various moral principles interwoven into the narrative of the story. The classical debate of thinking from head vs heart is presented upfront and is a recurring theme throughout the book.

The characters make for an interesting bunch, something we can relate to easily if we map them to our own circles. In between their eccentricities, concepts like Empathy, Critical feedback without natural kindness bias etc are introduced in a subtle way. There are some small subplots like a Canadian searching for her long lost home, one of the members getting entangled in a pyramid scheme, conditions of orphans etc which keep the narrative ongoing. One of the interesting aspects of Botswana society is the significance of Cattle as a sign of prosperity and like an asset to the family. The role of Cattle, familial bonds  and significance of a family in the overall scheme of things etc bear a strong resemblance to the Indian society too.

Overall, this book is not much of a fiction story, but more of a philosophical / theological fable with the context of the detective agency. This is a good read for young readers, but avid fans of fiction may find this a little dragging / boring.

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