Published By: Random House
Publication Date: 5th October 2017
Format: Hardback
I.S.B.N: 9781910701768
Price: £17.99
Blurb
Fredrik Welin is a seventy-year-old retired doctor. Years ago he retreated to the Swedish archipelago, where he lives alone on an island. He swims in the sea every day, cutting a hole in the ice if necessary. He lives a quiet life. Until he wakes up one night to find his house on fire.
Fredrik escapes just in time, wearing two left-footed wellies, as neighbouring islanders arrive to help douse the flames. All that remains in the morning is a stinking ruin and evidence of arson. The house that has been in his family for generations and all his worldly belongings are gone. He cannot think who would do such a thing, or why. Without a suspect, the police begin to think he started the fire himself.
Tackling love, loss and loneliness, After the Fire is Henning Mankell’s compelling last novel.
My Review
I’ve been reading Henning Mankell’s books for at least fifteen years, especially his crime novels. This was a bit different, firstly because it was told by the victim in first person. Fredrik is a very unreliable narrator as he tries to navigate the year after he loses his house to an arson attack. Frightened that the police will blame him and confused by his daughter Louise’s behaviour, he follows her to Paris to help her get out of prison and discovers more about her secret life. Never really knowing other people is a theme of this book.
A well-written and gripping novel, worthy of being his last work.
4/5
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