Botswana story

Excellent narrator.
Nice story with a happy ending.
I really love the series about Ma Ramotswe.
Hope there are more of them.

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go to stuff

if I need my faith restoring in humanity I listen to these Botswana books. They make me feel good and smile more.

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another excellent dose of Mma Ramotswe & co

What did you like most about The Handsome Man's De Luxe Café?

“There was also enough light, Mma Ramotswe reflected, to see that the world was not always a place of pain and loss, but a place where our simple human affairs – those matters that for all their pettiness still sometimes confounded us – were not insoluble, were not without the possibility of resolution.”

The Handsome Man’s De Luxe Café is the fifteenth book in the Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Scottish author, Alexander McCall Smith. Precious Ramotswe and Grace Makutsi are faced with a puzzling case: Mr Senagupta, proprietor of Senagupta Office Supplies, and his sister, Miss Rose, want the Ladies to discover the identity of a woman who has arrived at their house with no idea of who she is, or where she’s from. But Mma Ramostwe suspects there is more to this case than just amnesia.

Grace is about to embark on a new challenge. Already a wife to Phuti Radiphuti, and mother to Itumelang Clovis Radiphuti, and a partner in the Detective Agency, she now has a lease on the shop that is to become the Handsome Man’s De Luxe Café. But while Grace extends, Mr J.L.B. Matekoni has to downsize, and Charlie, still without any qualifications, becomes the unfortunate casualty.

This instalment sees the tiny white van getting dented (twice!), Mma Ramotswe selling cattle for a good cause; Mma Potokwani solving two tricky problems, Mma Makutsi failing to follow the advice of her shoes, Violet Sepotho living up to her nasty reputation, Mma Ramotswe reminded of her first marriage, Charlie embarking on a seemingly unlikely career, Mma Makutsi helping to advance the career of a smart young girl and the formation of an unexpected partnership.

As always, McCall Smith includes plenty of gentle philosophy as his characters muse on waiting-room magazines, what men dream, Prince Charles, female intuition and Pilates. Plans are thought about: “The trouble with plans was that they tended to be expressions of hope…for most people the plan merely said what they would like to happen rather than what they would actually do”, as are dreams: “no matter how unhappy or fraught our waking world may be, we are sent dreams in which we can do the things our heart really wants us to do”

The late Obed Ramotswe’s wisdom about disputes is remembered: “When you don’t talk about something, then something will talk about itself for you” and Mma Ramotswe thinks about behaviour: “You cannot judge somebody of eighteen by the standards of somebody of thirty, even less by the standards of somebody who was forty”. Mr J.L.B. Matekoni pontificates on progress: “I am not modern, and there are many people who are not modern. We want to stay exactly where we are, because there is nothing wrong with that place” and thinks about traffic: “How much worse was it in other countries not too far away where people drove as if they were being pursued by a swarm of bees”

There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments (the Café menu is a case in point), as well as thought-provoking situations, heart-warming reactions and a satisfying conclusion. The Audible version is, once again, beautifully narrated by Adjoa Andoh. The only puzzling thing is why, after so many books, she has suddenly changed the pronunciation of Phuti Radiphuti’s name. Another excellent dose of Precious Ramotswe and co.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Handsome Man's De Luxe Café?

when the young girl gets 98%

Which character – as performed by Adjoa Andoh – was your favourite?

Mma Makutsi

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

no

Any additional comments?

why has the pronunciation of Phuti Radiphuti changed??

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3 people found this helpful

Lovely

So sensitive so warm so real. Satisfying to read and comforting. Missed it once I had finished it.

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The Handsome Man's De Luxe Cafe

Loved it as I love all these books, except for the new usage of Phuti 's name. What is with the Puti, please revert to the original pronounciation so we feel back at home with the characters. No faults at all with anything else and am looking forward to listening to my next awaiting one.

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1 person found this helpful

Delightful as ever.

Another gentle ramble in Botswana, beautifully crafted. Inky reservation is they're all getting very similar too many distractions with inter-office squabbles. More suspense and detection would be amazing like the very first book!

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lifts the spirits!

This series read by Adjoa Andoh can always be relied on to make you smile. this one was no exception.

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2 people found this helpful

Excellent as always

Loved it...full of wisdom and humanity. enjoyable from beginning to end. Looking forward to the next book...

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Uplifting

Beautifully read by the narrator.
The stories always give me a warm glow because the main character is such a lovely person

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Excellent Narration

Would you listen to The Handsome Man's De Luxe Café again? Why?

I would listen to this again. The narrator, Adjoa Andoh, does a cracking job and makes the book really pleasurable. Another great book in the No 1 Ladies a Detective Agency series.

What other book might you compare The Handsome Man's De Luxe Café to, and why?

All the other books in the series. All beautifully crafted and a oleasure to read and listen to.

What about Adjoa Andoh’s performance did you like?

All of it! She is simply perfect and well cast as the narrator for this story.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There are lots of moments. All the books in the series are really about kindness and don't we all need some of that?

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3 people found this helpful