Last Orders at Harrods; An African Tale by Micheal Holman is a book that has been described as an upbeat development book (see Siphoning Off a Few Thoughts). Several reviews that I read on Amazon had compared it to The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, which I quite enjoyed, so I was looking forward to reading this as well. Last Orders at Harrods takes place in the fictional country of Kuwisha, and centers around the story of Charity Mupanga, owner of a popular restaurant/bar. Charity herself is a wonderful woman who mothers the local orphan hoodlums by giving them odd jobs and making sure they have a meal or two each day, supports the community football team and defends their honor most valiantly. She is in the process of being sued by some London based lawyers for trademark infringement. This part of the story I quite enjoyed. Her boyfriend is quite the character (and now I know why you should always be sure to iron your shorts...) and I liked the interaction between the two of them. Another thing that I enjoyed about this book was the proverbs given at the beginning of each chapter, complete with explanations at the end of the book. Who couldn't smile at sayings like, "When the buffalo move south, wise men check their trouser buttons" or "When the elephant spits out its phlegm, don't measure its tusks."
What I wasn't so crazy about was the rest of the novel. Intermixed with Charity's story are people from the world bank, journalists, an "elected" dictator, and several various politicians. I had a rather difficult time keeping track of who was who and following their different stories of cholera epidemic, lending, and political intrigue. Having said that, I would be interested to hear from someone who is more familiar with some of these issues than I am (broad hint to David and Daniel...) to know how much of it rings true.
Overall, there were definitely some humorous situations in the novel that I enjoyed reading about, but this book was not my favorite.
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