• The Full Cupboard of Life

  • More from the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
  • By: Alexander McCall Smith
  • Narrated by: Lisette Lecat
  • Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (1,326 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
The Full Cupboard of Life  By  cover art

The Full Cupboard of Life

By: Alexander McCall Smith
Narrated by: Lisette Lecat
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $17.19

Buy for $17.19

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

New York Times best-selling author Alexander McCall Smith's critically acclaimed No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series continues in this engaging book that won the first ever Saga Award for Wit, given to the wittiest British book of the year.

Mma Ramotswe has been engaged to Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni for quite some time, and they still have no wedding date. But she doesn't want to be too pushy, for Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni has much on his mind. Mma Potokwani, who runs the orphan farm, has tricked him into performing a parachute jump to benefit charity. While Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni tries to wiggle out of his responsibility, Mma Ramotswe keeps busy investigating four men, all who wish to marry a very wealthy woman. What exactly are their intentions?

The cupboard of life is full indeed in this charming, gently funny novel that vibrantly captures the fascinating culture and landscape of Botswana.

Listen to the other titles in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.
©2003 Alexander McCall Smith (P)2004 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

  • Audie Award Winner, Solo Narration (Female), 2005

"Delightful series." (Booklist)
"Admirers of Alexander McCall Smith's best-selling novels about Precious Ramotswe...will not be disappointed." (The New York Times Book Review)

What listeners say about The Full Cupboard of Life

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    889
  • 4 Stars
    314
  • 3 Stars
    89
  • 2 Stars
    22
  • 1 Stars
    12
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    759
  • 4 Stars
    112
  • 3 Stars
    22
  • 2 Stars
    10
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    635
  • 4 Stars
    196
  • 3 Stars
    58
  • 2 Stars
    9
  • 1 Stars
    6

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

#1 Ladies Detective series delivers another winner

I have now listened to the first five in this series -- and eagerly await the newest one "In the Company of Cheerful Ladies." I would buy the book, but listening to this narrator, Lisette Lecat, is the only way I want to hear this series. She's that good. I look forward to driving to work just to hear the next chapter every day. Do them in order or Precious's adventures get out of sequence....!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

so good

This is one of the books in the Ladies #1 Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. This is a top notch series and I believe that to truly enjoy the series, every book should be read in the order written. The characters and story line develop over time in the series and they are people you really want to get to know. The story lines and characters can be funny, disgraceful or tragic, but they are always interesting. Smith is a keen observer of people and has great talent for drawing characters and telling whopping good stories.
The reader is the same for each book in the series and she is one of the best I have ever heard. She gives consistly solid performances over the entire series. The characters remain the same from one book to the other. Her accents are extrordinarily good. If I had to choose between reading this series and listening to it read by this reader (Lisette Lecat) I would without hesitation choose the audible version. Purchase them all - they are so very good.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Delightful!

Every book in this series has made me smile and delight in all the characters. Well done! I highly recommend this book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

yet another winner

This is a fabulous series of books that are simply an enjoyable listen! No stress no strain - I have listened to several in this series this summer and I find them light and refreshing. The narrator has a pleasant voice and a wonderful accent. Nothing better than sitting back with a big mug of bush tea and enjoying a tale by Alexander McCall Smith.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I love this series!

I love this series, I read them until I could no longer read. Now I get the audio version. The voice of the reader is delightful.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

A difficult case

The narrator of these books has a beautiful array of voices at her command. She easily deserves five stars. The characters in these books are in some odd way fascinating. Now for a leap into the impossible: the sentences are mostly atrocious. The author repeats himself ad nauseam; his seeming inability to use a personal pronoun to stand in for any character's name is pedantic and, one begins to imagine, paternalistic. To echo the formality of speech in Botswana is one thing, to fill pages of a book with mind-numbing guilelessness is quite another. No reference or irony or pun goes unexplained, either. Full marks to AMcS for bringing us this beautiful country; it's time he let them exist in all their potential complexity. I would venture to guess that a good copy editor could pare down the whole ten (?) volumes (maybe 15 audio hours) to two without losing a scintilla of subtlety.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Worse book of the Series

Although I love all of the number one ladies Detective books this one is not worth reading.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Simply the best

This is a lovely long series and I have read all the books and listened to many of them performed. But this book, like The House of Unexpected Sisters and The Big Tent Wedding is just a stand out. The ending lifts the spirit and in my imagination, I am there.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Simple Wisdom

I love the books in this series. Precious Remote is a wise woman,and the gentle humor of the characters and situations makes the insights into human nature a delight to absorb.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Always wonderful

I love this series and the delightful stories are enhanced by superb narration of Lisette Lecat.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful