Negative Positive
Title: Charming Foray into Another Culture
Review: My friend, who has spent time in Botswana, encouraged me to read this little story because he said it was true to the culture he encountered there. Precious Ramotswe is certainly nothing like American black women. Large, stoic and self-effacing, she looks at the world patiently but relentlessly posing questions in her own unique way. The pleasure she takes in her simple life - the backyard vegetable patch, her friend the car repairman, and of course, her quiet self-chosen profession as a lady detective, which is unheard of in her culture, made a satisfying read. Not until the end is there any real danger, but I found I didn't miss all the action of other detective novels because I was visiting Botswana, and the Alexander McCall Smith does possess the ability to evoke this setting subtly and consistently throughout this fine story.
Is the review positive or negative? 