The Eye of the Leopard: A Novel
A haunting novel juxtaposing a man's coming-of-age in Sweden with his life in Zambia, from the internationally bestselling author.
Interweaving past and present, Sweden and Zambia, The Eye of the Leopard draws on bestselling author Henning Mankell's deep understanding of the two worlds he has inhabited for more than twenty years.
Hans Olofson arrives in Zambia not long after independence, hoping to fulfill the missionary dream of his friend Janice. He is also fleeing the traumas of his motherless childhood: his father's alcoholism, his best friend's terrible accident, Janice's death, his fear of an ordinary and stifled fate. Africa is a terrible shock, yet he stays and makes it his home. But he never fully comes to understand his place as a mzungu, a wealthy white man among native blacks, and the fragile truce between them. Rumors of an underground army of revolutionaries wearing leopard skins warn him that the truce is in danger of rupturing.
Alternating between Hans's years in Africa and those in Sweden, The Eye of the Leopard is a bravura achievement and a study in contrastsblack and white, poor and wealthy, Africa and Europeboth sinister and elegiac.
Interweaving past and present, Sweden and Zambia, The Eye of the Leopard draws on bestselling author Henning Mankell's deep understanding of the two worlds he has inhabited for more than twenty years.
Hans Olofson arrives in Zambia not long after independence, hoping to fulfill the missionary dream of his friend Janice. He is also fleeing the traumas of his motherless childhood: his father's alcoholism, his best friend's terrible accident, Janice's death, his fear of an ordinary and stifled fate. Africa is a terrible shock, yet he stays and makes it his home. But he never fully comes to understand his place as a mzungu, a wealthy white man among native blacks, and the fragile truce between them. Rumors of an underground army of revolutionaries wearing leopard skins warn him that the truce is in danger of rupturing.
Alternating between Hans's years in Africa and those in Sweden, The Eye of the Leopard is a bravura achievement and a study in contrastsblack and white, poor and wealthy, Africa and Europeboth sinister and elegiac.
FICTION_THRILLERS_SUSPENSEAFRICA_FICTION
RELEASED2008
PUBLISHERNew Press, The
LENGTH315
LANGUAGEEN
Henning Mankell was born in Stockholm, Sweden, the son of a judge. He grew up in the towns of Sveg and Borås. His grandfather, also called Henning Mankell (1868–1930), was a well-known composer. At the age of 20, Mankell was the assistant director at the Riks Theater in Stockholm, and he was also writing. In the 1970s he moved to Norway, where he lived with a woman who was a member of the Maoist Communist Labour Party, although he never officially joined the Party. He moved to Africa and lived in several African countries, and in 1985 he founded the Avenida Theater in Maputo, Mozambique, where he continues to spend about half of every year. In 1997 he began his most well-known series of novels, a series of murder mysteries set in Ystad, Sweden, featuring the police detective Kurt Wallander. He also established a publishing house, Leopard Förlag, to publish young talents from both Africa and Sweden. He is married to Eva Bergman, daughter of Ingmar Bergman.
The Eye of the Leopard: A Novel
A haunting novel juxtaposing a man's coming-of-age in Sweden with his life in Zambia, from the internationally bestselling author.
Interweaving past and present, Sweden and Zambia, The Eye of the Leopard draws on bestselling author Henning Mankell's deep understanding of the two worlds he has inhabited for more than twenty years.
Hans Olofson arrives in Zambia not long after independence, hoping to fulfill the missionary dream of his friend Janice. He is also fleeing the traumas of his motherless childhood: his father's alcoholism, his best friend's terrible accident, Janice's death, his fear of an ordinary and stifled fate. Africa is a terrible shock, yet he stays and makes it his home. But he never fully comes to understand his place as a mzungu, a wealthy white man among native blacks, and the fragile truce between them. Rumors of an underground army of revolutionaries wearing leopard skins warn him that the truce is in danger of rupturing.
Alternating between Hans's years in Africa and those in Sweden, The Eye of the Leopard is a bravura achievement and a study in contrastsblack and white, poor and wealthy, Africa and Europeboth sinister and elegiac.
Interweaving past and present, Sweden and Zambia, The Eye of the Leopard draws on bestselling author Henning Mankell's deep understanding of the two worlds he has inhabited for more than twenty years.
Hans Olofson arrives in Zambia not long after independence, hoping to fulfill the missionary dream of his friend Janice. He is also fleeing the traumas of his motherless childhood: his father's alcoholism, his best friend's terrible accident, Janice's death, his fear of an ordinary and stifled fate. Africa is a terrible shock, yet he stays and makes it his home. But he never fully comes to understand his place as a mzungu, a wealthy white man among native blacks, and the fragile truce between them. Rumors of an underground army of revolutionaries wearing leopard skins warn him that the truce is in danger of rupturing.
Alternating between Hans's years in Africa and those in Sweden, The Eye of the Leopard is a bravura achievement and a study in contrastsblack and white, poor and wealthy, Africa and Europeboth sinister and elegiac.
FICTION_THRILLERS_SUSPENSEAFRICA_FICTION
RELEASED2008
PUBLISHERNew Press, The
LENGTH315
LANGUAGEEN
Henning Mankell was born in Stockholm, Sweden, the son of a judge. He grew up in the towns of Sveg and Borås. His grandfather, also called Henning Mankell (1868–1930), was a well-known composer. At the age of 20, Mankell was the assistant director at the Riks Theater in Stockholm, and he was also writing. In the 1970s he moved to Norway, where he lived with a woman who was a member of the Maoist Communist Labour Party, although he never officially joined the Party. He moved to Africa and lived in several African countries, and in 1985 he founded the Avenida Theater in Maputo, Mozambique, where he continues to spend about half of every year. In 1997 he began his most well-known series of novels, a series of murder mysteries set in Ystad, Sweden, featuring the police detective Kurt Wallander. He also established a publishing house, Leopard Förlag, to publish young talents from both Africa and Sweden. He is married to Eva Bergman, daughter of Ingmar Bergman.
