Daniel by Henning Mankell, Harvill/Secker, $32.95
Hans Bengler is a 19th century loser, running away from his purposeless, hopeless life in Sweden.
Deep in the Kalahari Desert he finds a young boy who’s survived the massacre of his entire family.
With the kindest of intentions he adopts the child, re-names him Daniel, and takes him home to Sweden.
But his ignorance, alcoholism, and lack of imagination, condemn an intelligent child to life as a freak show exhibit, and worse. Daniel dreams of his family, his home, and of his rich culture, and he shows determination and courage in trying to save himself.
Sweden’s Henning Mankell has conquered the world with his wildly popular crime writing. With this latest novel he addresses deeper historical and cultural issues.
He often writes about Africa and says he has one foot in the desert and one in the snow. His understanding of both cultures is striking. Daniel is deep, strange, disturbing, and tragically beautiful.
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