Blue Shoes and Happiness Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, and our BookBrowse Review of Blue Shoes and Happiness.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

About This Book

With Blue Shoes and Happiness, Alexander McCall Smith returns to Botswana, where the offices of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency are firmly ensconced at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors. Precious Ramotswe is sharing the space with her assistant, Grace Makutsi. With her detective business humming along, Mma Ramotswe is coping with a variety of difficulties including the moodiness of her husband, Mr. J. L. B. Maketoni. In the office, a potentially lethal cobra has managed to hide itself under Mma Makutsi's desk. Several incidents need investigating: a nurse from a local medical clinic reveals that faulty blood-pressure readings are being recorded there, and a woman writes a letter saying that she risks losing her job because she knows that her boss is stealing food in order to serve elaborate meals to her husband. And down at the game reserve in Mokolodi, witchcraft seems to be brewing, but the fearful inhabitants will say nothing about what is happening.

And there's trouble afoot as well in Mma Makutsi's life. After her fiancé Phuti Radiphuti hears a feminist speaking on the radio he has a frightening dream, and begins to wonder whether Grace Makutsi may belong to that fearsome category of female. When he doesn't turn up for their customary dinner date, she in turn begins to fear that he is having second thoughts about their engagement. These events combined with Mma Ramotswe's warmth, humor, and wisdom provide readers with pleasures far greater than the simple satisfaction found in mysteries solved and justice done.


Reader's Guide

1. "We are all human beings, and human beings can't really help themselves. Have you noticed that, Mma? We can't really help ourselves from doing things that land us in all sorts of trouble" (p. 4). From this observation, spoken by Mma Ramotswe to Mma Makutsi, proceeds the plot of Blue Shoes and Happiness. How are the characters in this story responsible for creating their own problems?
2. Why does Mma Ramotswe rely so loyally upon the advice of Clovis Andersen's The Principles of Private Detection? Consider this example: "Keep your mouth shut at all times, but at the same time encourage others to do precisely the opposite" (p. 12). What does Mma Ramotswe admire about such advice? How does she judge the quality of the advice given by Aunty Emang, the newspaper columnist? What do you think of Aunty Emang's advice? What about Clovis Andersen's?
3. Much of the satisfaction of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency novels lies in their precise observations of daily life as experienced by women: "That was part of being a woman, [Mma Ramotswe] thought; one never reached the end. Even if one could sit down and drink a cup of bush tea, or even two cups, one always knew that at the end of the tea somebody was waiting for something" (pp. 12-13). Is it at all surprising that the writer of these observations is a man? Why do you suppose that Alexander McCall Smith has so much empathy for his female characters?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Anchor Books. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.