Recently read: Henning Mankell’s Chronicler of the Winds

I’ve been an avid fan for years of Mankell’s police procedurals set in his native country of Sweden. In addition to being a bestselling author of crime novels, Mankell spends part of his year in Mozambique, where he’s been the director of the Teatro Avenida for more than 20 years. He has written a number of books set in Africa. This is the first one I’ve read. It is a gripping story of a man, Jose, who has a steady job as a baker in the city and a boy who fled the countryside. The boy, Nelio, lives on the streets. Late one night, Jose discovers Nelio, dying of a gunshot wound in the middle of an empty theater, and carries him up to the roof. Jose tends to the boy for nine days, during which he learns the story of Nelio’s short life. Jose realizes he must continue the tale so that the world will learn by it. Now Jose is the Chronicler of the Winds. A chillingly beautiful book of poverty, death, political violence, and the evil that lives beside the good in the world. This is a must-read.