BOOKPATHS

Botswana

When Rain Clouds Gather, by Bessie Head (Portsmouth, NH:  Heinemann, 1996; first published in 1969)

Bessie Head’s 1969 novel, When Rain Clouds Gather, follows a South African, Makhaya, who leaves his homeland as a political refugee and settles in a “poverty-stricken” village in Botswana.  Tradition and modern life conflict when Makhaya and an English agricultural expert encourage the villagers to “upgrade their traditional farming methods with modern techniques.” Like her character, Bessie Head left her hometown of Pietermaritzburg, South Africa as a refugee in 1964, settling in the Botswana “village” of Serowe.   She went on to become one of Botswana’s most important writers.

The sun set early in winter and by seven o’clock it was pitch dark.  Makhaya made ready to cross the patch of no-man’s-land.  The two border fences were seven-foot-high barriers of close, tautly drawn barbed wire.  He waited in the hut until he heard the patrol van pass.  Then he removed his heavy overcoat and stuffed it into a large leather bag.  He stepped out of the hut and pitched the leather bag over the fence, grasped hold of the barbed wire, and heaved himself up and over.  Picking up his bag, he ran as fast as he could across the path of ground to the other fence, where he repeated the performance.  Then he was in Botswana.  – from When Rain Clouds Gather, by Bessie Head

Related Websites

Publisher’s Website

Bessie Head (1937-2007) Website

Botswana

The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith (New York : Anchor Books, 2002)

The first novel in Alexander McCall Smith’s immensely popular series about Precious Ramotswe and her No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency introduces readers to the ample and engaging Precious Ramotswe, other recurring characters, and the landscape of Botswana. While this novel and the others in the series are simply told as they follow Mma Ramotswe in her detective work, her solving of “small crimes,” and personal life, McCall’s obvious affection for the people and places of Botswana makes reading them a rewarding experience. You’ll leave the book’s pages wanting to make a return visit to Precious Ramotswe and her Botswana.

Related Websites

The Official Website of Alexander McCall Smith

Publisher’s Website

“Mma Ramotswe had a detective agency in Africa, at the foot of Kgale Hill. These were its assets: a tiny white van, two desks, two chairs, a telephone, and an old typewriter. Then there was a teapot, in which Mma Ramotswe – the only lady private detective in Botswana – brewed redbush tea. And three mugs – one for herself, one for her secretary, and one for the client. What else does a detective agency really need.” – from The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith

“Mma Ramotswe did not want Africa to change. She did not want her people to become like everybody else, soulless, selfish, forgetful of what it means to be an African, or, worse still, ashamed of Africa. She would not be anything but an African, never, even if somebody came up to her and said ‘Here is a pill, the very latest thing. Take it and it will make you into an American.’ She would say no. Never. No thank you.” – from The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith

Kalahari Desert, Botswana

Cry of the Kalahari, by Mark James Owens and Cordelia Dykes Owens (New York : Mariner Books, reissue 1992)

Winner of the 1985 John Burroughs Medal, Cry of the Kalahari describes zoologists Mark and Delia Owens’ life in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. For seven years, beginning in 1974, the Owens lived in this roadless and waterless area of the Kalahari Desert. Here they studied the wildlife, particularly brown hyenas and black maned lions, that drew them to Botswana, while also confronting dangers from “drought, fire, violent storms, and even from the animals they loved.” A bestseller when published, Cry of the Kalahari continues to transport readers into this “vast wilderness.”

Related Websites

Owens Foundation for Wildlife Conservation

Publisher’s Website

“It is an interesting blend of cultures, but nothing happens very fast in Gaborone, and for two months after our arrival in Botswana we were stuck there. Day after day we walked from one isolated government department to another, trying to arrange residence and research permits and meeting with people who might know something about a suitable study site. We were determined to find a place – one far from fences – where the behavior of predators had not been affected by human settlements.” – from Cry of the Kalahari, by Mark James Owens and Cordelia Dykes Owens

Botswana, etc.

Bob Thompson talks with Alexander McCall Smith in today's Washington Post. They discuss the "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series, Africa, writing, and much more.

"They're set in Botswana (Quck: find it on the map.) Their heroine, Precious Ramotswe, is a woman of 'traditional build' (she's fat) who shuns violence, lacks interest in sex and appears to spend as much time sipping bush tea as she does solving clients' problems. Not the normal ingredients to send books flying off airport racks." -- Bob Thompson, "The Heart of Lightness : Alexander McCall Smith's Bestselling Characters Reveal the Generous Spirit of Africa," The Washington Post 11/29/05