The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

Precious Ramotswe, often called Mma Ramotswe, is the protagonist of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. Ramotswe is described as “not tall—being blessed with generous girth, rather than height” (98). Her fatness is appealing to men throughout the novel: In one instance, a cheating husband that Ramotswe is investigating tells her “that he liked good, fat women” (142) like her. This reflects that fact that fatness is considered a positive physical attribute in women in Botswana. Mma Ramotswe is characterized by her perseverance through loss, her love of Botswana, and her independence. While her perseverance and national pride are constants throughout the novel, Mma Ramotswe comes to increasingly trust her love interest J.L.B. Matekoni as the novel progresses, and ultimately remarries, despite initially vowing never to do so. When she was younger, Ramotswe’s father and cousin begged her not to marry Note Mokoti, but she did “because she was headstrong” (135). Later, when J.L.B. Matekoni first proposes to Ramotswe, she rejects him, explaining that “I cannot get married again. Ever. I am happy as I am. I have got the agency and the house. My life is full” (138). Her change of heart and her reclaimed confidence in her own judgment as an older, wiser woman forms the novel’s emotional resolution and is the main thrust of her character arc.

When the action of the novel begins, Precious is 34, “parentless, veteran of a nightmare marriage, and mother, for a brief and lonely five days” (59). The first part of the novel details the various losses Mma Ramotswe has suffered: At the age of 20, she was briefly married to an abusive man, and it is implied that his abuse while she was pregnant led to the death of their infant child. This violent loss haunts Mma Ramotswe throughout the novel, interrupting her memories. After her marriage ended, Mma Ramotswe moved back to her father and cared for him for 14 years until his death. The novel begins soon after this bereavement. She begins the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency with the proceeds from the sale of her dead father’s cattle. The founding of the Agency is a representation of Mma Ramotswe’s ability to turn pain and loss into something meaningful for herself and her community: “there was so much suffering in Africa that it was tempting to just shrug your shoulders and walk away. But you can’t do that, she thought” (230). Her dedication to problem-solving is a constant throughout the novel.

Mma Ramotswe’s love of Botswana is another constant in the novel. The novel’s initial introduction to Ramotswe stresses that “she loved her country, Botswana, which is a place of peace, and she loved Africa, for all its trials” (4). Mma Ramotswe’s pride extends beyond Botswana to all 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 out into an American.’ She would say no. Never. No thank you” (215). The novel closes with J.L.B. Matekoni reflecting that Mma Ramotswe “was everything to him—mother, Africa, wisdom […] the white sky against the endless, endless, bush […] O Botswana, my country, my place” (234). From the beginning, when Precious is described as “a good woman in a good country,” to this ending, she is often made the personification of Botswana. Her enterprising, optimistic and independent attitude reflects the prosperity and growth of Botswana as a nation. Similarly, her journey from an oppressed and abused wife to a successful businesswoman healed sufficiently to enter into a new, redefined marriage traces the trajectory of Botswana from a British colonial “protectorate” to a thriving independent nation state, opting into the Commonwealth relationship with the UK.