Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith: Warm the Heart in Botswana
A witty light read featuring a romanticized life in Botswana.
If you gave people the chance to work out their morality, then they would work out the version that was easiest for them and that allowed them to do what suited them for as much of the time as possible.
I read "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency," written by Alexander McCall Smith, many years ago. Though I loved the setting in Botswana and the focus on the life of common people of the country, I wasn't very impressed by its plot, which I felt was too light and fuzzy for a detective novel. It took a decade for me to pick up another book of the series, even when the books were abundantly available in all the used bookstores that I visited. Recently I picked "Morality for Beautiful Girls," the third book of the series, when I had to round off another purchase in such a shop.
In this installment of the series, Precious Ramotswe continues to face personal and professional challenges, which she tries to overcome through her wit, intellect, and good nature. She is engaged, but her fiancé seems to have fallen into a sudden and deep crisis of which he isn't forthcoming. So she has to help him and his motor garage to recover even when her detective agency is in financial loss, with no funds to even give a salary for her new assistant, Mma Makutsi. Apart from that, someone powerful needs her help to identify the culprit behind a possible poisoning incident; a young boy with the smell of a lion emanating from him is found in the wilderness, and the morality of the girls who take part in a pageant needs to be assessed.
The book is no more different in its style or structure from the first part that I read. We find the protagonist mired in a plethora of issues that need every arrow from her arsenal. The only difference is that we are introduced to an equally resourceful and young assistant, who takes over a few responsibilities. This is an advantage to the narrative, as the subplots now happen in parallel and make it more engaging. But otherwise, it continues the same ambling pace and never tries to engage in any gimmick. The focus is still on Botswana life with an additional peek into the generational differences in such an orthodox society.
It is with this intention that the writer introduces a pageant and the person who conducts it gets bothered about the moral and ethical character of the women who participate in it. The book puts forth a message that external beauty is only a part of the whole, and to assess the real beauty of people, it is essential to judge their moral and ethical qualities too. The concept is derived from the deeply traditional outlook of Botswana, and the writer projects it as a universal truth. The book also shows concern about a new selfish generation that ignores this concept. We also find that this applies not just to the contestants of the pageant but also to the principal characters of the novel.
The best part of the novel, as is the case with its predecessor, is the setting and characters. Though I've seen many doubts in several forums about the authenticity of the depiction of the Botswana setting, as the writer is Scottish and has only lived in Zimbabwe during childhood, I still feel the romanticized setting greatly benefits his narrative. The fact that he spent only his childhood in Africa should explain the naivete that can be seen in the narration. The characters, who are brilliantly portrayed, seem to be deeply rooted in the land and its culture. The main characters exude great wisdom and charm, and the humor in the narrative helps to elevate their characters.
My recommendation for this book would be to not approach it as a detective story because the narrative is ambling and the mysteries are quite simple and predictable. If you focus on the charm of the characters, the evocative setting of Botswana, and the insightful observations, it will be a worthwhile and heartwarming light read.