Italian Shoes

A Novel

Henning Mankell

Translated by Laurie Thompson

hardcover

$26.95

From the prizewinning “master of atmosphere” (Boston Globe) comes the surprising and affecting story of a man well past middle age who suddenly finds himself on the threshold of renewal.

Living on a tiny island entirely surrounded by ice during the long winter months, Fredrik Welin is so lost to the world that he cuts a hole in the ice every morning and lowers himself into the freezing water to remind himself that he is alive. Haunted by memories of the terrible mistake that drove him to this island and away from a successful career as a surgeon, he lives in a stasis so complete an anthill grows undisturbed in his living room.

When an unexpected visitor alters his life completely, thus begins an eccentric, elegiac journey—one that shows Mankell at the very height of his powers as a novelist.

A deeply human tale of loss and redemption, Italian Shoes is a testament to the unpredictability of life, which breeds hope even in the face of tragedy.

Henning Mankell is Sweden’s single most-read author around the world. His novels, which include the bestselling Kurt Wallander mysteries, have been translated into thirty- seven languages with more than 30 million copies in print worldwide. He has received the German Tolerance Prize and the Macallan Golden Dagger and has been a three-time finalist for the Los Angeles Times Mystery/Thriller Book Prize. He divides his time between Sweden and Maputo, Mozambique, where he works as the director of Teatro Avenida. Laurie Thompson has translated more than forty Swedish books, including thirteen by Henning Mankell. He lives in Wales.