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Portrait of Jo Spain Photo: wenn.com / TT (2018)

Sample of authors

Spain, Jo

The Irish author Joanne ‘Jo’ Spain was born into a working-class family in the little notorious residential district of Belcamp, close to Coolock in Dublin. Her father, who was close to her even though he was an alcoholic, died when she was young. She attended St. John of God’s School in Artane in northern Dublin, and subsequently studied Politics and Philosophy at Trinity College in the city. Thi...

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Literary figures

Mma Makutsi

Gender: Female

She struggles with her poor skin and unflattering spectacles, but Mma Grace Makutsi has impressively high grades from her secretarial course and is a lady with skin on her nose and a sharp tongue. In Alexander McCall Smith’s suite of novels about The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency in Botswana’s capital Gaborone, Mma Makutsi is first employed, but after a while becomes a part-owner of the agency. S...

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