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Chapters (48)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. CHAPTER ONE
  7. ON A HOT DAY WE DREAM OF TEA
  8. CHAPTER TWO
  9. FOOD COOKED WITH LOVE TASTES BETTER
  10. CHAPTER THREE
  11. YOUR HOUSE HAS GOT MY NAME ON IT
  12. CHAPTER FOUR
  13. I SHALL SIMPLY LOOK UP IN THE SKY
  14. CHAPTER FIVE
  15. I AM YOUR FRIEND, AND I AM ASKING
  16. CHAPTER SIX
  17. THE THINGS OF WHICH A MECHANIC MIGHT SPEAK
  18. CHAPTER SEVEN
  19. THE THIS WAY UP BUILDING COMPANY
  20. CHAPTER EIGHT
  21. MMA RAMOTSWE DRIVES CLOVIS ANDERSEN TO MOCHUDI, AND THINKS
  22. CHAPTER NINE
  23. THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT OWN THE AIR
  24. CHAPTER TEN
  25. SHE WAS LIKE A DEFLATED BALLOON
  26. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  27. AN INNOCENT MAN, A FIRST OFFENDER
  28. CHAPTER TWELVE
  29. THE EFFECT OF LIME
  30. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  31. THERE ARE SOME NICE PEOPLE ON THE ROAD
  32. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  33. GOLD INSIDE, NOT JUST OUTSIDE
  34. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  35. HOW MANY CUPS OF TEA …
  36. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  37. THE HABITS OF LIONS
  38. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  39. HAVE YOU HAD ANY INJECTIONS RECENTLY?
  40. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  41. A LAWYER SPILLS TEA OVER HIS SHIRT
  42. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  43. YOU ARE A VISITOR TO OUR COUNTRY
  44. CHAPTER TWENTY
  45. BETTER NAILS, BETTER LIFE
  46. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  47. MMA RAMOTSWE, I HAVE A CONFESSION TO MAKE
  48. About the Author

Phuti bent down to examine one of the walls. They were in a part of the building where Thomas must have been working that day; the mortar around the bricks was wet to the touch, cool against the skin, soft too. Our house, thought Phuti. Our house.

And then he thought of something that Mr. Putumelo had said. Your house has got my name on it. That was strange, but there were many aspects of the building trade that Phuti found odd, just as he had no doubt others found aspects of the furniture business hard to fathom. He completed his examination of the incipient wall. “This is very well made,” he said. “This is very good work.” It was: the wall hugged the plumb line, set by a practised and conscientious eye.

He turned round. Thomas, who had been standing immediately behind him only a few moments before, had gone.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

THERE ARE SOME NICE PEOPLE ON THE ROAD

CLOVIS ANDERSEN returned from the far side of the country, exhausted by the journey, to receive the message that Mma Ramotswe had left for him. In this she gave him no news of the awful events that had occurred, but simply proposed that they meet for tea at the President Hotel, suggesting that if he telephoned her they could agree on a time. He did, and they met on the day after his return. It was a hot morning, but even though the air was heavy, it held a hint of what might come; somewhere, still far away, but building up, there were rain clouds. And the rain would bring relief from the heat and the dryness, and the earth would drink it up thirstily and suddenly be touched with the green of new growth.

“So hot,” said Clovis Andersen, as he sat down opposite Mma Ramotswe on the hotel verandah. “So awfully hot.”

“Then we shall have tea,” said Mma Ramotswe. “That will make you feel better.”

The tea did not take long to arrive, and as Mma Ramotswe poured it from the stout white pot she began to reveal to Clovis Andersen the troubles they were facing.

“I know these are not your problems, Rra,” she began, “but we … that is, Mma Makutsi and I, feel that you will have some idea of what to do.”

Clovis Andersen stopped her. “Hold on, Mma Ramotswe. I may have written that book, but really I wouldn’t hold myself out as … as an expert.”