Book description
Once a successful surgeon, Frederick Welin now lives in self-imposed
exile on an island in the Swedish archipelago. Nearly twelve years
have passed since he was disgraced for attempting to cover up a tragic
mishap on the operating table. One morning in the depths of winter, he
sees a hunched figure struggling towards him across the ice. His past
is about to catch up with him.
The figure approaching in the freezing cold is Harriet, the only
woman he has ever loved, the woman he abandoned in order to go and
study in America forty years earlier. She has sought him out in the
hope that he will honour a promise made many years ago. Now in the
late stages of a terminal illness, she wants to visit a small lake in
northern Sweden, a place Welin's father took him once as a boy. He
upholds his pledge and drives her to this beautiful pool hidden deep
in the forest. On the journey through the desolate snow-covered
landscape, Welin reflects on his impoverished childhood and the woman
he later left behind. However, once there Welin discovers that Harriet
has left the biggest surprise until last.
Henning Mankell has become a worldwide phenomenon with his crime
writing, gripping thrillers and atmospheric novels set in Africa. His
prizewinning and critically acclaimed Inspector Wallander Mysteries are
currently dominating bestseller lists all over the globe. His books have
been translated into over forty languages and made into numerous
international film and television adaptations: most recently the
BAFTA-award-winning BBC television series
Wallander
, starring Kenneth Branagh. Mankell devotes much of his free time to
working with Aids charities in Africa, where he is also director of the
Teatro Avenida in Maputo. In 2008, the University of St Andrews
conferred Henning Mankell with an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters
in recognition of his major contribution to literature and to the
practical exercise of conscience.
