Zapatos Italianos. (Italian Shoes)
Reviewed by Carolyn Kost, Stevenson Sch. Lib., Pebble Beach, CA -- Críticas, 6/15/2008
Mankell, Henning.
tr. by Carmen Montes Cano. Spain: Tusquets, dist. by Urano Pub. 2007. 370p. ISBN 978-84-8383-025-3. pap. $22.95. FICTION
Best known as a popular Swedish author of detective novels, Mankell here creates a meditative novel in a growing subgenre of bildungsroman that deals not with the transition from childhood to adolescence but rather from middle age to elderhood. Fredrik, who always been one to eavesdrop, pokes in people’s purses and drawers and, as a surgeon, their bodies to discover their secrets, has largely preferred to leave his own life unexamined. After committing a tragic medical error, he has lived as a recluse on a remote island for over a decade until an old lover, who is dying, appears and demands that he make good on a promise he had made to her. Through her, Fredrik comes back to life, learns he has a daughter, and begins to resurrect himself. The flawless authenticity of Fredrik’s voice demands that the reader taste the salt air and grab a blanket against the damp chill. This extraordinary novel is highly recommended for bookstores and libraries, particularly with more mature clientele.
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