Italian Shoes (Unabridged) [Audio Download]

Henning Mankell has become well known of late thanks to the BBC's adaptation of his acclaimed Kurt Wallander series. ITALIAN SHOES is a one-off story spanning a year in the life of a 66-year-old former surgeon living in self-imposed exile on a small island in the archipelago between Sweden and Finland, having botched an operation twelve years earlier and taking early retirement as a consequence. The tale involves the very unexpected return into his life of a woman he once loved and deserted thirty-seven years back, and three other women of widely differing circumstances who have a profound effect on his sense of being.

Mankell is a natural story-teller and his latest novel is rich in all manner of emotions. Loneliness, regrets, mortality and failure are just some of the issues covered here, told in the first-person throughout with a wonderful sense of comic timing in spite of the generally depressing themes. The central character Frederik Welin has only one friend - a hypochondriac postman - and even then he doesn't like him very much and hasn't invited him into his lonely abode in all of the twelve years that he has been delivering and collecting the post. As usual, Mankell is adept at describing the environment, in this case the often frozen sea and snow-covered terrain of a desolate region of Sweden, but he is even better at characterisation and dialogue. While the topics central to the main characters' lives are largely sad and downbeat, the overall impression from reading the story is surprisingly uplifting, and full of moments to make you smile if not laugh out loud. It must have been challenging to have chosen to write in the first-person about a man who is basically selfish and inconsiderate, because it then means that any impressions about him have to come in the form of responses to his self-centred behaviour from the characters around him - there is no judgement in the narrative as it is played out in diary-like style with only occasional snippets of inner reflection. The prose is easy and uncomplicated - compliments must go to the outstanding translation by Laurie Thompson - yet moods and events can change very abruptly without any forewarning.

I cannot think of a genre into which this book fits, but it is yet again a very intelligent piece of work by Mankell, full of serious if not profound issues that will make you pause to reflect and consider, yet relieved on countless occasions by moments of spirit-raising humour. I would guess that some of the anecdotes have been adapted from the author's real-life experiences, but he is in any case a most gifted writer, full of imagination, and I believe that anyone reading this will take something positive away from it, something to reflect on looking both backwards and forwards in time.

I have been a fan of Henning Mankell for many years and was gratified when I realised, with the filming of three of his books for television, that I was not the only person in this burgeoning fan club. In fact, his popularity seems to grow and grow. And it is richly deserved. I have read absolutely everything he has written and have been following the exploits (bumbling or otherwise) and declining health of my hero Inspector Kurt Wallander of Ystad for about ten years. Italian Shoes is something completely different and by the time I had read the first page I knew this was a fabulously crafted tale. Translated by the wonderful Laurie Thompson, it is about a reclusive doctor who has isolated himself from society, with only a dog and cat for company, on a tiny island, or skerrie, off the coast of Sweden, south of Stockholm. The sea is frozen solid and he is taking his morning dip in the ice when he spots a figure looking at him from way out on the wastes of the frozen sea. It is a woman on an invalid walker. This would have been a heartwarming tale of forgiveness and peace in anyone's hands but Mankell's, who - as usual - twists things in such a way that leaves you wanting to give the hero a few hard slaps. That's what I love about Henning Mankell's books - they are always so unpredictable and he seems to specialise in writing about difficult men who don't understand the first thing about women. It makes me wonder! But it is a fantastic read - not to be missed by Mankell fans. I just could not put it down.

This is a book that doesn't seem to follow the usual rules. Likeable main character? Nope. Linear and slightly predictable plot? Er, no.

Instead, what you get is something of a curate's egg. In places, this book is beautiful, insightful and fascinating. There is a sharply-defined atmosphere, a simplicity that belies some depth of feeling and understanding. Alternatively, there is a sense for the reader that the book has not quite completed anything, and everything is partially-understood and partially-divulged.

So in summary, this book is interesting but flawed. Overall, it's an enjoyable read if a somewhat frustrating one.