| The Full Cupboard of Life (No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Book 5) | 
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 80 reviews)
Sales Rank: 23880
Category: Book
Author: Alexander Mccall Smith
Publisher: Anchor
Studio: Anchor
Manufacturer: Anchor
Label: Anchor
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.7
ISBN: 1400031818
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9781400031818
ASIN: 1400031818
Publication Date: January 25, 2004
Release Date: January 25, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
In the fifth book in the prodigiously successful series, traditionally built, eminently sensible Mma Precious Ramotswe continues her enterprise at the No. 1 Ladies? Detective Agency in Gaborone, Botswana, a country that is indeed fortunate.
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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| Customer Reviews: Read 75 more reviews...
 More inspirational than that you fade November 24, 2008
This novel has a texture and a fragrance that come directly from Botswana, from Africa. The plot is no plot at all. It is a big rich slice of the cake we call life seen through the critical eyes of a woman and tasted through her own tongue and mouth, a woman who sort of deconstructs and reconstruct the world around her for our pleasure. She explores the characters and behaviors of simple people because that is her job, being a private detective, and she has the trust of several other people which enables her to bring into the picture, her picture, all the hues and details the others can contribute. It is also a novel in which several types of women are the media we need to capture the world. These women are different but they have one common point: their enterprising spirit, even faith, that makes them do things, even risky things, and take the lead around themselves, gathering people and blazing the trails that will bring other people out of the bush to take and follow some road or path to the future, their future, that can only be that of everyone, since everyone has to take part and the future of each one of them, of us, has to be part of the future of everyone else. It may take a whole village to educate a child, but it often only takes a few people to set a whole village on the prowl for good and progress. This vision is so African that we can taste the cake of the last few pages and the sweet and pungent feeling it leaves on our tongue. Africa, and Botswana, is a continent where a grain of salt or a lump of sugar can make the difference between sadness and happiness, bleakness and joy. When a man has not reached the level when he may become wasteful, he knows how to appreciate the smaller pleasures of life, like that cup of tea my Buddhist monk students prepared and offered me after the two hours class I had spent with them teaching them the English of Buddhism. And the grain of salt was in their eyes and the lump of sugar on the palms of their hands. Even when, like in Pali, there is no word for "give" or "take", there always are so many eyes to share a feeling and so many hands to greet, receive and hand out what only exists if it is circulated from one heart to the next that the words are no longer needed. And that's exactly the feeling I get in this book.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
Warm, witty, and wise July 2, 2008
Book five in The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.
Mma Potokwani ropes Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni into agreeing to do a parachute jump in order to raise money for the orphan farm. In one of my favorite quotes from the book, she says, "We are much cleverer than you men, but, unfortunately, you do not know that." Ha!
Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni is so preoccupied with trying to find a way to avoid keeping his promise that he can't spare a minute to think about getting married, much to Mma Ramotswe's chagrin.
Mma Ramotswe helps a woman who owns a chain of hair salons to investigate several prospective husbands. As always, things work out just fine in the end.
Bring on the Cheerful ladies. November 16, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Great book. It seemed like a great conclusion to a wonderful series. I can't imagine what will happen next. But I will certainly be reading to find out.
 a pleasant journey with those who have now become old friends August 26, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
When I read the previous book in the series (The Kalahari Typing School for Men), it was clearly the least mysterious of the books in this series to that point: it had the fewest detective cases, instead moving forward the personal lives of the major characters (especially Mma Kutsi). With this, the fifth installment, Smith lowers the mystery quotient even further. The book contains only one detective case (albeit a fun one: find out which of a rich woman's suitors will make the best husband!) and spends relatively little time even on it.
This time, the focus returns to Mma Ramotswe's and Mr JLB Matekoni's personal lives. Despite the lack of mystery, the book is a pleasant escape into one of Africa's best-governed and wealthiest countries, with characters you can enjoy and respect. And the book has a fine ending!
I made the mistake of reading this installment just a couple of months after the last one: it's better to leave a more time between books in this series, else Mma Ramotswe's musing on the marvels of Botswana (especially the OLD Botswana) can start to feel tired. But given a little rest, this is a relaxing ride back to Jaborone. I'll read the next book, just not right away.
If you're new to the series, don't start here: go back to The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. This isn't Agatha Christie: the detective's history actually matters here. And I always listen to the audiobook version (published by Recorded Books), narrated by Lisette Lecat. She is a pleasure to listen to.
 Another lovely story August 10, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I think the thing I like most about this series (other than the consistently good writing) is that there is no straining to put the detectives in dangerous situations, no effort to up the body count or indeed to have a body count in each book. This detective does the things that most detectives do--evaluates character, looks for lost things and most importantly lives her life. It's the views into her life that keep me coming back. I had wondered how long the engagement would go on before Precious Ramotswe would ask when she would cease to be an engaged lady and become a wife. That's one of the focuses of this book and I'm not going to tell you what happens. I'm looking forward to reading the sixth book.
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