Italian Shoes
By: by Henning Mankell; translated from the Swedish by Laurie Thompson.
Contributors: Laurie Thompson (Translator)
Publisher: New Press; Distributed by Perseus Distribution
Published: April 2009
Place of publication: New York, NY
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 247
ISBN-13: 9781595584366
Subjects: Recluses -- Fiction.; Surgeons -- Malpractice -- Fiction.; Islands -- Fiction.
Genres: Fiction
Work titles: Italienska skor.
First sentence: I always feel more lonely when it's cold.
Description: Living on a tiny island entirely surrounded by ice during the long winter months, Fredrik Welin is so lost to the world that he cuts a hole in the ice every morning and lowers himself into the freezing water to remind himself that he is alive. Haunted by memories of the terrible mistake that drove him to this island and away from a successful career as a surgeon, he lives in a stasis so complete an anthill grows undisturbed in his living room.

When an unexpected visitor alters his life completely, thus begins an eccentric, elegiac journey -- one that shows Mankell at the very height of his powers as a novelist.

A deeply human tale of loss and redemption, Italian Shoes is a testament to the unpredictability of life, which breeds hope even in the face of tragedy.
Notes: "First published as Italienska Skor by Leopard förlag, Stockholm, 2006."
Table of contents: label: First Movement
title: Ice
pagenum: 1; label: Second Movement
title: The Forest
pagenum: 81; label: Third Movement
title: The Sea
pagenum: 147; label: Fourth Movement
title: Winter Solstice
pagenum: 211