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The Shadow Girls A Novel edition by Henning Mankell Ebba Segerberg Literature Fiction eBooks

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The Shadow Girls A Novel edition by Henning Mankell Ebba Segerberg Literature Fiction eBooks

This is a novel about the awakening of Jesper Humlin, a self-centered poet initially concerned only with his own success and whether he is holding his own in his relationships with his chief competitor, his publisher, his mother, and his girlfriend. Even his relationships with his doctor, his stockbroker, and his old friend who now runs a boxing club are described in terms of who is in control. Humlin sees himself as losing his foothold, until his interactions with three young immigrant women put him in a position of responsibility and provoke his social conscience. This book is also the stories of those women, who Mankell describes in the afterword as real (that is, composites of real experiences)--and whose stories he describes as his primary purpose. Mankell is a political activist; immigration is an important issue for him, as is apparent even from the Wallander mysteries. In the afterword, he thanks the people who have "taken up the cause" as he has his protagonist take up the cause of the immigrants.

The issue of who is visible versus needing to hide in the shadows is an important theme throughout the book. Mankell tells it straight, in the young women's heart-rending stories--but he also underlines the absurd aspects of their situations as immigrants (e.g., immigrants destroying their passports and official papers before entering Sweden to increase their chances of staying) by putting them and Jesper into many, many absurd situations (e.g., hiding out in the chief of police's house, stealing phones in the police station, having their writing class in a boxing club where Jesper gets punched). Mankell clearly can write more than crime fiction (which he estimates as only about 25% of his output); the success of his Wallander novels have allowed him the freedom to experiment with other sorts of books, such as this absurdist social commentary--a book in which, ironically, the protagonist is directed to write a crime novel and finds that several other characters, including his elderly mother, are doing so.

I find this effort impressive although I can't say this is one of my favorite Mankell novels. Mid-life crises are hard to read, and this book kind of just ends without bringing even Jesper's situation to resolution. If you need an easier transition from Kurt Wallander, try these other excellent crime novels/mysteries: Kennedy's Brain, Return of the Dancing Master, The Man from Beijing. Then move farther afield with the touching Italian Shoes and the disturbing story of Daniel. Several of these use Mankell's first-hand knowledge of Africa or deal with immigration or outsider issues. Although he makes fun of those who write crime novels, Mankell himself clearly is a serious author with important purposes in each of his works.


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The Shadow Girls A Novel edition by Henning Mankell Ebba Segerberg Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews

This was a well told and unusual story, combining the author's knowledge of his homeland as well as of Africa. It tells of young African women, who have come from poverty and deprivation in Africa to a world of freedom in Sweden. But they are still outcasts, slowing making headway in a country so strange from anything they have known. The author shows how difficult it is for them to be accepted, to find work, to make their way in Sweden, and he makes the reader understand how Swedes react to the presence of these strangers. Though I thought the Swedes he depicted were less sympathetically drawn than were the strangers in their midst, I found the story quite compelling as a narrative of the complexities of mixed races in Sweden in today's world.
Best known for his police procedural Wallander novels, the author turns his attention to the issue of illegal immigrants in Sweden, particularly the fate of three immigrant girls, forced to live in the shafows of Swedish society. A poet. Jasper Humlin, becomes entangled in the lives and activities when he agrees to help them with their writing.
Along the way, the author shines a light on the background of the girls and the ways they are forced to live - in the shadows.
I first encountered Mr. Mankell through an excellent Netflix series called "Wallander" based on Mankell's Swedish crime/detective novels. I've also read "Italian Shoes" by this author. Where "Shoes" felt cold, moody, regret-driven, what I might call a Scandinavian feel, "Shadow Girls" showcases Mankell's versatility as it is both humorous and illuminating in its story of illegal immigrants trying to get to a free country and survive without being exposed. It made me laugh because the narrator of "Shadow Girl" is a famous Swedish poet who has published a lot of low-selling books of poems and his agent is trying to get the author to write a crime novel, which it seems almost anybody the author encounters, including his mother, is writing. It was funny to me because Mankell made his bones writing a series of excellent crime novels. Anyway, I highly recommend anything by this author.
Henning Mankell is the Swedish author of the mystery series "Wallander," which, in addition to being global bestsellers, have been adapted into the PBS "Masterpiece Mysteries!" series.

This editiion of "The Shadow Girls" is published by "The New Press" which promotes issues for a more equitable world. Mankell is one of the contributers to this not-for-profit collaboration. "Shadow Girls" brings to light the issue of the tragedies caused by forced pogroms that continue to operate in the 21st century.

Many refugees from Bangladesh, China, Kurdistan, Iran, Ghana, Togo and other third-world places are captured by human traffickers and dumped in camps that they probably won't survive. Those few who escape head for Northern European countries, hoping somehow to quietly integrate. Often they have lost all family and must be physically and mentally strong to make their way alone. Mankell uses this background to show how brave and clever those who survive are.

One of the African refugees who escapes from a Spanish prison camp makes her way to Sweden--a young girl with a big smile that she uses to soften the myriad of obstacles that stand in her way. She adopts the unfortunate name "Tea Bag" from looking at teacup one of her captors has in his office.

When she encounters one of the least likely persons in Sweden to get to know or help her, a self-centered, mediocre, henpecked writer wrapped up in ambition, the story becomes humorous, filled with intrigue, softening the sadness. Hennings best writing comes when he is relating the incredible, heartrending stories of the Shadow Girls.
This is a novel about the awakening of Jesper Humlin, a self-centered poet initially concerned only with his own success and whether he is holding his own in his relationships with his chief competitor, his publisher, his mother, and his girlfriend. Even his relationships with his doctor, his stockbroker, and his old friend who now runs a boxing club are described in terms of who is in control. Humlin sees himself as losing his foothold, until his interactions with three young immigrant women put him in a position of responsibility and provoke his social conscience. This book is also the stories of those women, who Mankell describes in the afterword as real (that is, composites of real experiences)--and whose stories he describes as his primary purpose. Mankell is a political activist; immigration is an important issue for him, as is apparent even from the Wallander mysteries. In the afterword, he thanks the people who have "taken up the cause" as he has his protagonist take up the cause of the immigrants.

The issue of who is visible versus needing to hide in the shadows is an important theme throughout the book. Mankell tells it straight, in the young women's heart-rending stories--but he also underlines the absurd aspects of their situations as immigrants (e.g., immigrants destroying their passports and official papers before entering Sweden to increase their chances of staying) by putting them and Jesper into many, many absurd situations (e.g., hiding out in the chief of police's house, stealing phones in the police station, having their writing class in a boxing club where Jesper gets punched). Mankell clearly can write more than crime fiction (which he estimates as only about 25% of his output); the success of his Wallander novels have allowed him the freedom to experiment with other sorts of books, such as this absurdist social commentary--a book in which, ironically, the protagonist is directed to write a crime novel and finds that several other characters, including his elderly mother, are doing so.

I find this effort impressive although I can't say this is one of my favorite Mankell novels. Mid-life crises are hard to read, and this book kind of just ends without bringing even Jesper's situation to resolution. If you need an easier transition from Kurt Wallander, try these other excellent crime novels/mysteries Kennedy's Brain, Return of the Dancing Master, The Man from Beijing. Then move farther afield with the touching Italian Shoes and the disturbing story of Daniel. Several of these use Mankell's first-hand knowledge of Africa or deal with immigration or outsider issues. Although he makes fun of those who write crime novels, Mankell himself clearly is a serious author with important purposes in each of his works.