Geschiedenis Van Een Gevallen Engel (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
I thought that Henning Mankell only wrote mysteries, but I was wrong. This is the story of Hannah, a young Swedish woman who works briefly as a cook on a ship. She meets a man, falls in love, marries, and he dies. She jumps ship in the colony of Portuguese East Africa (this is 1904), and begins a life of self-knowledge. Unlike other whites, she cannot view black people as inferior or dumber or different. I listened to this one, which added to its appeal. Noted mostly for his Wallender books, occasionally Henning Mankel ventures into other areas with equal success. Having read "The Man from Beijing," one of his "other" novels, I picked this one up at my library. It is a fascinating novel, both in the tale and the telling. Based on a thread of fact, Mankel weaves the story of a young Swedish woman, sent away from her home because her widowed mother could not afford to care for her, who, while traveling to Australia for employment, jumped ship in Portuguese Africa. Along the way she marries a sailor and is widowed after two months because he caught some tropical virus in one of the ports. In Africa she marries the owner of a brothel, struggles with the horrors of apartheid, becomes wealthy, and . . . Well, better that you read the story for yourself.Mankel has the power, with a few verbal strokes, to make the characters, and there are plenty of them, come to life. Each turn of the pages brings a surprise in terms of developments and events. Truly enjoyed it.
What do You think about Geschiedenis Van Een Gevallen Engel (2011)?
one of his stand alone books, not police series. Couldn't finish.
—lina
Amazing book couldn't put it down. Best book this summer!
—esha8708
