A Fan Post

On my friend Betsy's suggestion years ago, I started reading Alexander McCall Smith's novels about a Botswanan detective named Precious Ramotswe. The series, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books, is charming: Precious is a gentle, intelligent woman; her secretary Grace is impossibly prissy; her friend Mr. JLB Maketoni the kind of man all women dream of; the mysteries loving stories of village life.

Lately, I have started watching the HBO series that aired at least a year ago. This afternoon, a friend and I saw the third installment, complete with black mambas, poison, and a child actor playing Wellington so well that he can break your heart. I mean it: he can break your heart. Rarely do I enjoy a film version of a book I have loved as much as this. The setting is authentic and exotic; the scripts faithful to the novels; the directing gentle; and the actors terrific. I am especially charmed by Jill Scott who plays Precious so well that I can never imagine her otherwise now. Wise, gentle, sweet, good-humored, independent, intuitive -- Precious is a great figure of the imagination (and of traditional build) no less great the talent of Jill Scott.

Read the books. See the series. You will not be disappointed.