3.0
The Shadow Girls
ByPublisher Description
From the New York Times–bestselling author: A story of one man’s awakening and “a heartfelt reminder of the many people whose struggles are never known” (The Plain Dealer).
Jesper Humlin, a poet of middling acclaim and underwhelming book sales, is facing a crisis. His boy-wonder stockbroker has squandered Humlin’s investments, and his editor, who says he must write a crime novel to survive, starts pitching and promoting the nonexistent book despite Humlin’s emphatic refusals. Then, when he travels to Gothenburg to give a reading, he finds himself thrust into a world where names shift, stories overlap, and histories are both deeply secret and in profound need of retelling.
Leyla from Iran, Tanya from Russia, and Tea-Bag, who is from Africa but claims to be from Kurdistan (because Kurds might receive preferential treatment as refugees)—these are the shadow girls who become Humlin’s unlikely pupils in impromptu writing workshops. Though he had imagined their stories as fodder for his own book, soon their intertwining lives require him to play a much different role.
Offering both surprising humor and heartrending tragedy, The Shadow Girls is a “passionate and entertaining” triumph that will astonish longtime fans of Mankell’s acclaimed Kurt Wallander novels as well as readers new to his work (The Daily Telegraph).
Jesper Humlin, a poet of middling acclaim and underwhelming book sales, is facing a crisis. His boy-wonder stockbroker has squandered Humlin’s investments, and his editor, who says he must write a crime novel to survive, starts pitching and promoting the nonexistent book despite Humlin’s emphatic refusals. Then, when he travels to Gothenburg to give a reading, he finds himself thrust into a world where names shift, stories overlap, and histories are both deeply secret and in profound need of retelling.
Leyla from Iran, Tanya from Russia, and Tea-Bag, who is from Africa but claims to be from Kurdistan (because Kurds might receive preferential treatment as refugees)—these are the shadow girls who become Humlin’s unlikely pupils in impromptu writing workshops. Though he had imagined their stories as fodder for his own book, soon their intertwining lives require him to play a much different role.
Offering both surprising humor and heartrending tragedy, The Shadow Girls is a “passionate and entertaining” triumph that will astonish longtime fans of Mankell’s acclaimed Kurt Wallander novels as well as readers new to his work (The Daily Telegraph).
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities19 Reviews
3.0
Mist_Ry
Created about 1 year agoShare
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“I rated this with a three mainly because there were parts where I laughed out loud and appreciated the humor that happened in Humlin's interactions with people in his life. I also read someone else's review where they wondered if this was a satirical look at crime novels, which I could see at some points throughout the story. If that was Mankell's intent, then I appreciate it and like those elements of the story. That being said, Humlin is not a likable character (and it was other characters in the story that kept me interested to see where things went), parts felt rushed through especially near the end, and plenty of pieces were left unresolved. It was also a little bit of whiplash when things got more serious and less funny at some points, leaving me wishing the tone had been more consistent throughout. Other things about this book just left me confused, and probably I need to read an in-depth review/essay on what things could mean, but I don’t love the story enough to do that.”
Caty Filgueira
Created over 2 years agoShare
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Cat Pick
Created over 4 years agoShare
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Blanka
Created about 5 years agoShare
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Weird_Roni 🦇🖤
Created about 5 years agoShare
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About Henning Mankell
Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander mysteries are global bestsellers and have been adapted for television as a BAFTA Award–winning BBC series starring Kenneth Branagh. Mankell was awarded the Crime Writers’ Association’s Macallan Gold Dagger and the German Tolerance Prize, among many others. He divides his time between Sweden and Mozambique.
Other books by Henning Mankell
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