Different to what I expected

I have to admit that at times I thought about giving up on this book but once finished I am glad I continued with it. The pace is slow and it is so different to the others written by Henning Mankell, of course the wonderful performance of Sean Barrett added to the atmosphere of the story. There is though an atmosphere of impending death about the whole book but it does have an unexpected twist at the end.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

A beautiful story

Well told by henning mankell .. By no means an action novel, but the thoughts and actions of the failed surgeon who is the” narrator”, especially about his relationship s with two women are fascinating. A beautiful story carefully told by Mankell at his best.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Three Stars is Generous

I listened to this book because I have read Italian Shoes, and quite enjoyed the story - but most of all it it just felt like being there in Scandinavia. Much in the way that the Wallander books do...

But After The Fire just plods on with anecdotes.

I'd only recommend it if you're already into Henning Mankell.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Great Narrator. Story a bit weak.

Paints a great picture of the archipelago's and life on them and the people's lives.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Slower and more Morbid

Quite different to the fantastic Mankell books that I have listened to. More reflective and darker as a 70 year old man reflects on his life as well as the prevailing story drama. Perhaps it coincided with Mr Mankells age and health struggles before he passed away? A slower pace and less engaging but a wonderful performance by Sean Barrett as always.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

A beautiful elegiac farewell

This is Mankell’s final book written just before his death two years ago in 2015 and now translated into English. Forget all his Wallanders and other crime novels, this is a stand-alone work of great poignancy and depth so beautifully read that you accept Sean Barrett as Mankell himself, as well as the retired doctor Welin whose story this is.

A description of the scenario sounds like 11 hours of unremittingly melancholy. 70 year-old Welin (retired after an operation he was carrying out went horribly wrong) lives alone on an isolated Swedish archipelago in the house which had belonged to his parents. After it is burned down by an arsonist, he loses everything; his ill-tempered, troubled daughter Louise, who grew up away from him, makes a visit which is both uncomfortable and irritating for him. Even his meal contains ‘fatigue and sorrow’, and the fish and the humans are disappearing from the island. It seems ‘an ocean of emptiness’ like the Japanese-style garden Louise would like to make on the island, and there is a great deal about loneliness and loss.

But it is all so gentle (and Sean Barrett’s voice is wonderful for this) and so insightful that it doesn’t seem merely melancholy. There is the low-key crime investigation (who is the arsonist setting fire to other houses?) which makes Welin muse on just how well we ever know others; there is a new life which could grow into the next century, and his deepening relationship with his daughter; his not entirely satisfactory but treasured friendship with the prickly journalist decades younger than himself; there’s his memories of the past which come back to him in waves and make Welin entirely real and human as he (and I think Mankell) reviews his life and awaits the end he knows must come. The novel ends as Welin’s house is being re-built, the fish have returned to the sea: the final note is one of uplift and redemption (which I can’t explain without spoiling the plot). This one will stay with you.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

14 people found this helpful

How self opinionated this man was but somehow forgivable but not wholly

Really enjoy Mankell I have read all his books mostly when I lived in Africa

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

could not stop listening.

loved it, great pace and got me immerse in his characters and the island. I could see the place smell the fire. Sean Barret is just my best reader.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

Great final book of a great author

Sometimes a bit long but Henning Mankell ist still Henning Mankell. This is perhaps his strangest story and his way to deal with death.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Beautifully Poignant

Just a beautifully written story superbly brought to like by the incomparable Sean Barrett. A joy to listen to.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!