The Warmth & Wisdom of Alexander McCall Smith

A Renaissance man, former University of Edinburgh law professor, and instructor of medical law and bio-ethics, prolific Alexander McCall Smith has written over 100 books, completes five or six a year, and is now trying his hand at composing librettos and operas. ‘Talented’ would be an understatement for this brilliant, insightful, one-of-a-kind author and humanitarian, known across the globe for his unique works.  

Born in Rhodesia when it was still a British colony, imbued with deep multi-cultural feelings and understanding for the people and culture of Africa, McCall Smith moved as a student to Edinburgh. He lived in Botswana in the 1980s, taught law at the university there, and in 1998, when his No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency hit the bestseller list, his life changed. That blockbuster became the first in a series of 23 novels to date. Writing, which had once been only a sideline, became McCall Smith’s life’s work. From magazines to the internet to YouTube, journalists clamor for interviews with the genial, oft-quoted, phenomenal author.   

Alexander McCall Smith
Alexander McCall Smith (“Laura Bush Book Club with Alexander McCall Smith” by TheBushCenter is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.)

It’s a mystery to me why I had never read a McCall Smith novel until a few years ago when my sister and brother-in-law urged me to do so. I began with Tears of a Giraffe, the second novel in McCall Smith’s The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. The story concerns a mother who seeks closure about the mysterious circumstances surrounding her son’s death. Everyone else has given up, but not the empathetic, intuitive Mma Precious Ramotswe, Botswana’s premier and only private detective.

In this series, other novels, and even whimsical African folk tales, like The Girl Who Married a Lion by McCall Smith, I have found hours upon hours of life-affirming, genuine pleasurable reading experiences with satisfying resolutions that I would otherwise have missed. More about this feel-good, habit-forming series, and my personal McCall Smith favorite, to follow.

Endless Inspirations Recorded in Notebooks

One never knows where McCall Smith’s fertile brain will take him next. He rises at dawn and writes at least 3,000 words a day! He records his thoughts, ideas, witticisms, snippets of dialogue, poetry, and possible scenes in notebooks. Possibly, he is plotting his next children’s book, which is where he got his writing start, as 30 were published before he embarked on novels for adults. Perhaps it’s another serial-to-novel or his latest writing venture, which he calls ‘Scandinavian Light’ and is set against the usual darkness and grim body count of that genre, or somewhere mid-stage into another creative enterprise. One thing is for certain about the ever-optimistic McCall Smith: Whatever he touches, he builds upon, never tears down, and that is the inherently positive nature of this man.

Mind Reader and Friendly Advisor   

Alexander McCall Smith
Alexander McCall Smith (“Alexander McCall Smith Clearwater, FLA 2011” by Clearwater Public Library System is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.)

McCall Smith’s books keep us grounded in our common experience, laying down universal human truths that resonate. He is a master of creating this phenomenon as if he had a method to get into your head and reside within your thoughts. Possibly, it’s the universality of thought that connects his characters’ ideas so deeply to those of many of us.

Often, passages are remarkably personal to the reader. Usually, through his protagonist in one of his series, McCall Smith voices thought after innermost thought that coincide completely with those of his readers, reflections that cause you to nod and say, “I think that, too, and have often expressed it,” or “How did he get that sentiment so right?”

You simply have to thumb through one of his books to find some philosophical remark that echoes your way of thinking, in particular, the truisms and kindness-first attitude of Ramotswe, head of Botswana’s No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.

A natural home-grown philosopher, she muses and comments on everyday happenings that occupy her mind (and ours), such as wondering why someone scratches another’s car without leaving a note and expresses her opinions in an honest, caring way. There is always a better, smart, kinder, more forgiving way to accomplish what one sets out to do, where no one gets hurt.  In Tea Time for the Traditionally Built, she says, “There is plenty of work for love to do.” 

The Works

Establishing a Sense of Community and Pride – The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency

A life without stories would be no life at all.

Mma Ramotswe (The Company of Cheerful Ladies)

We shall change all that…because it is possible to change the world, if one is determined enough, and if one sees with sufficient clarity just what has to be changed

Mma Ramotswe (The Kalahari Typing School for Men)

Constructing communities that care deeply for each other and are considerate of one another is a hallmark of the people who live in Botswana. The importance of looking out for one another is foremost; people are connected and they belong. The author has carefully portrayed these people he deeply admires as they live and breathe down to the exact speech cadence, never appropriating their culture, but having them speak, philosophize, and solve problems for themselves. The minds, hearts, morality, and conscience of this African country shine through as a backdrop to the stories he tells. Love of the land and pride in self, country, and family are part and parcel of the inhabitants of Botswana and the pages of these books. 

No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency
No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency (“no. 1 ladies’ detective agency” by cdrummbks is licensed under CC BY 2.0.)

Mma Precious Ramotswe leads the cast of characters, a stalwart woman of “traditional build” (and proud of it) who opens The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency with the inheritance left to her by her beloved Daddy. Free of her abusive husband, jazz trumpeter, Note Makoti, she lives the good life she desires in a house on Zebra Drive from which much of the action begins.

Principal cast members who populate other Botswana locations in the capital city of Gaborone include Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, the fine-tuned gentlemanly owner of Tlokweng Road Speed Motors; prickly but skilled and loyal assistant detective Mma Makutsi; Charlie the troublesome, carefree mechanic apprentice; and Mma Potokwane, the wise matron at the Orphan Farm whose invaluable advice and tea with home-baked fruitcake energize and influence the thinking of Mma Ramotswe. Each character becomes the reader’s friend throughout the series. Even though they are not always correct or in sync, we understand, sympathize, and root for them whatever happens.

The Principles of Private Detection by Clovis Andersen serves as the reference guide for the operations of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. Cases run the gambit of looking into suspicious patient deaths at the hospital, finding the parents of a lost child, determining the morality of beauty contest candidates, and researching the suitors of a wealthy woman—such tricky situations have unpredictable outcomes that defy the reader’s powers of detection, but Mma Ramotswe, driving here and there in her rundown little white van, sometimes just talking to people she trusts, figures it out and finds the solution each time.  

Related: No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Books in Order

Stories play out in a satisfactory way, often like a pat on the back, with someone who says, “That’s all right.”  Each has a full circle resolution that soothes, compensates, and leaves the reader happy and uplifted. All’s well that ends well. Happiness exists. Upon finishing one, you feel compelled to read another, like revisiting trusted old friends who give good advice, a listening ear, a helping hand, and likely, a freshly brewed cup of Mma Ramotswe’s redbush tea.

Isabel Dalhousie Mysteries: Identifying with a Character’s Motivation

Putting yourself in the place of a character because you identify with some of their traits is often the case while engrossed in a McCall Smith mystery. Like us, they are very human, faults and all, and as such, relatable. That does not mean that you, the reader, are just like the character. Of course, you differ, but for me, often, a certain situation sparks a personal connection.

Friends Lovers Chocolate
Friends Lovers Chocolate

As an example, I identified with Isabel in an Isabel Dalhousie mystery, Friends, Lovers, Chocolate, as though the author mirrored the way I think and operate, part of my sense of being. Isabel is a philosopher who edits a magazine in Edinburgh as well as an occasional sleuth. A man who had a heart transplant and now experiences trauma seeks her help in finding out the name of the donor. A male friend, Jamie, asks Isabel why she is pursuing this quest, as it really doesn’t concern her.

She looked at him. It was her duty, was it not? By listening to Ian’s story, she had been drawn into a moral relationship with him and his situation. Isabel had firm viewpoints on moral proximity and the obligations it created. If one encounters the need of another, and one is in a position to help, then one should do so. It was as simple as that.

Does this sound familiar to those of you who feel obligated to undergo a task or take on a responsibility outside of your own interests because you must or feel compelled to do so?   

A Serial Novelist44 Scotland Street 

Like a modern-day Dickens or Flaubert who often serialized novels via newspapers a chapter or two at a time, McCall Smith, when asked by the editor of Scotsman newspaper if he would contribute a chapter a week, answered, “Why not?” He conceived 44 Scotland Street in Edinburgh and says, “I enjoyed it greatly.”

Each chapter consists of 1,100 to 1,200 words and eventually, at book length, the work is published in novel form. The books consist of dwellers in a townhouse who “collide” with other inhabitants as their stories take place. Of greatest interest are seven-year-old Bertie (he’s been that age for years), a highlight of the intertwined stories, and his demanding mother. McCall says, “This is the longest-running newspaper serial in history,” and he has recently finished his 15th novel in the series.

Author Interview Insights

The following quotes and statements highlight additional facts and descriptions that drive stories as told by  McCall Smith in recorded interviews:

Alexander McCall Smith
Alexander McCall Smith (“Alexander McCall Smith” by ALA – The American Library Association is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.)

“To understand a story, you must know the ethos of the country.”

“Things that happen to us are not always of our making.”

“I don’t dwell on violence and confrontation.” His characters face serious questions (including depression, abuse, and disability) through humor and “my use of a light brushstroke, not darkness.”

“The world can be a vale of tears, so why make books depressing to read? People are living good lives in difficult circumstances, with dignity and good humor and the ability to make the most of it.” McCall Smith stories sort out differences and offer solutions rather than address brutal crimes.

Asked in an interview by Little Brown Publishers whether Mma Ramotswe is inspired by a real woman, McCall Smith said, “No, but after watching a Botswana lady chasing a chicken around the yard, she came to life.” Mma Ramotswe, spiritual, intuitive, and intelligent, always reminds people of someone they know, a friend, an aunt, their mother. 

Remembrance in Writing

Keeper of the World Peace Flame

For World Book Day on March 3, 2022, Alexander McCall Smith wrote a poem in troubled times in tribute to those suffering war in Eastern Europe. In the last stanza quoted here, he glorifies the light that shines through the darkness and endures nonetheless, through truth, hope, and the wisdom found in books.

To the things that help,
Of which love and charity,
Are the main foundations;
And seek in books, those universal
Depositories of human truth,
The things we want and need
To make us strong, the evidence
To prove that light will still exist
The darker it otherwise gets,
And will be there, stubbornly
Glorious on the printed page.