How to Raise an Elephant

This is a wonderful series, and I’ve loved earlier books. But this installment seems rather tired. I suspect many of the favorable reviews here are a result of recalled memories and nostalgia and lasting affection for the protagonists, none of which has anything to do with this book in particular. There are no clients. There’s cuteness about a baby elephant. There’s a highly contrived subplot about the fear of a scam perpetuated by a cousin of Mma. Ramotswe what is wrapped up in the most perfunctory manner imaginable. Nothing gives any further insight into the characters or deepens our understanding of them. I think regrettably hat this series has reached its end for me.

I have read every book in this series and always pre-order. I love the characters, and Africa is as much a character as the humans. However, I support elephant rescue groups, and I was very disturbed by the baby elephant being held in Charlie’s backyard. It wasn’t until further in the story that I learned Charlie was feeding him formula, but baby elephants cannot survive on anything but elephant milk. I was so distraught about the baby elephant that I almost didn’t finish the book. By the end of the novel, the baby elephant was transferred to a reserve where I am sure that he was cared for properly, with a round-the-clock keeper, but I really cannot get past the trauma that this baby suffered earlier in the book by being brought south on a cattle truck and then kept for too long without proper care. Have to give McCall Smith two stars off.

The newest morality story from prolific writer Alexander McCall Smith is this twenty-first, and newest, book in the #1 Ladies Detective Agency series.

The reader is invited to partake of two very curious situations in this book: how to deal with a distant relative who is seeking money and what to do with an orphaned baby elephant that Junior Assistant and sometime mechanic Charlie is caring for. These are dealings that only Precious Ramotswe can sort out in her own inimitable manner. And lest we forget, there is real danger this time that Mma Ramotswes little white van may truly succumb when much is asked of it.

As stated, this is book #21 of the series. While fans of McCall-Smith and the #1 Ladies Detective Agency are sure to enjoy this book and find comfort in visiting with well-known characters, this reader believes that the time has come for the author to bring this series to its conclusion. Another reviewer has pointed out that there were no clients to deal with in this story and while that is true, let us ask ourselves if even our friends wouldnt be our clients were we in Mma Ramotswes position?

It seems that the author is devoting more of his time and energy to his other series than to this one. And while our favorite characters move through the routine of their daily lives, perhaps it is time to let them do just that. They have given us comfort and food for thought and this reader is grateful. But as many of us realize it is time to move on and bring this series to a conclusion.

In a paraphrase of that wonderful line of dialogue from Casablanca: Well always have Botswana (or Mma Ramotswe; or Mma Makutsi; or Afrika).

This series is quaint and adorable. I love the characters from Precious to Charlie and all those in-between. However, somewhere, this book went sideways.

A character will be thinking about a situation in the present, which reminds them of a past event — which the author always does in the series — but then a 3rd or 4th thought will pop into the narrative, and it was confusing. Happened all the time. But the last third of the book, about the elephant, Precious’ mysterious long-related cousin, and Grace’s foibles, make the story worthwhile. I wish the whole novel had been that entertaining.

For fans of the series only.

I do not think you need to have visited Botswana to recognize and appreciate Alexander McCall Smiths characters…they are so very human. What makes them unique is how they are steeped(like Precious beloved red bush tea!) in an identity and culture so uniquely African. I am lucky to have spent six years working in Angola(a close neighbor to Botswana). Dr. McCall Smith has captured the beauty of the culture that cannot be appreciated by a casual visit or media attention. It has been said that Africa will capture your heart if you let her…that you will leave a part of yourself there that will continue to call you back. That is what this series and these characters do to me.
HIGHLY recommended!

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