A slow burn, and then the reader is pinioned by ice – with no Wallander in sight
Henning Mankell’s last book, published after his death, is one of several he wrote which were free of the detective genre, though crimes there are, and trying to understand the who and the why is part of the journey made, by the central character, and the reader.
After the Fire takes up a story already followed some years ago, in his 2006 Italian Shoes (translated into English in 2009) This was meant to be a series, I believe, as the book was described as the first in the Fredrik Welin series. This is now the second, and final one, translated by Marlaine Delargy.
Firstly, rest assured, you do not have to have read Italian Shoes in order to understand or enjoy this. I did do so, back in the day, but have forgotten most of it, though I recollected its melancholy tone. Central character, in both novels is retired surgeon, Fredrik Welin. Welin was in late middle age in the first book, retired from his profession after a mishap, and retreated to a gloomy, dark, half resentful half embracing isolation on a sparsely populated island in the Swedish archipelago. His was not a character who handled humanity at large up close and personal well :
The view from the window was the same as the view in many other countries. The densely packed traffic induced in me a feeling of despair about the world into which I had been born and in which I happened to live. What were these people, many of them alone in their cars, thinking? Were they thinking at all?
Welin is now in his 70s. He is not a likeable man, not one to warm to. He dislikes most people. He had a difficult relationship with his estranged wife (the trajectory of Italian Shoes involved her final illness and death) and a challenging relationship with the daughter he never knew he had. This challenging relationship still continues, and is, for the most part, full of occasional unsatisfactory phone and internet communications.
Mankell has not given us a character to easily empathise with. He is irascible, suspicious, gloomy, self-sufficient and, at the same time, needy. He knows he lacks easy ability to make and keep friendships – though, nonetheless his fellow eccentric island dwellers – all pretty much those preferring isolation to connection, – seem to have affection for him. He is also lustful, and still dreams of a romantic connection, though he feels somewhat foolish for holding these yearnings.
An inexplicable fire in Welin’s home, which appears to have been deliberately started, alarming the community, is the precipitation of a whole series of events which challenge his long, settled into a somewhat grumpy, predictable existence. Firstly, he is suspected of having started the fire himself, in order to make a fraudulent insurance claim. Partly to clear himself, he begins to try and investigate. A local journalist becomes a kind of friend and fellow investigator. Further fires happen in the homes of others on the archipelago. The original fire, completely burning down Welin’s home brings him back into better contact with his difficult, also dysfunctional, adult daughter. The home, after all, would have been her inheritance.
I went up to the counter and explained that I had no bank cards and no ID; everything had been lost in the fire. The clerk recognised me but didn’t seem to be quite sure what to do. A person without any form of ID always constitutes some kind of threat nowadays
Now, this probably does not sound like the most absorbing read – but, if you are someone who likes books about complex, tangled, difficult human relationships, and the challenges, particularly between parents and their adult children, as the ravages of age and time lend an urgency to some kind of reconciliation and understanding – I would say this will be indeed, absorbing.
The ‘crime’ – who the arsonist is – may be obvious to the reader quite early – but the ‘solving’ isn’t the point of the book – it is Welin’s journey, where he must come to understand himself, and others, which matters. After I had settled into the realisation this was not a novel about action, but one of unfolding reflection, I was hooked
Ageing, death, loneliness, redemption, finding a meaning, in the face of there being none.
One day I will walk through into the land where memory has been swallowed up by forgetfulness
All, beautifully written. Mankell always one to think into meaning, always writing about wider than individuals
Escapist fiction this is surely not.
I received this as an ARC from the publishers, via NetGalley
It will be published on October 5th
Lady Fancifull 
Lovely review, very thoughtful and considered. I like the sound of the central character here – he seems difficult yet humane (if you know what I mean).
Yes, this is indeed the case, he has more kindness and concern for others than he thinks he has. I do get drawn to these melancholy, wintery reads, and like books which don’t necessarily immediately scream for your attention, but subtly take hold of you and wind the reader in
Great review, Lady F. I read and loved all the Wallanders but I’ve never strayed into the non-Wallanders – sounds like I should!
I probably prefer the non Wallanders. I do think you would like this
I did read and was absorbed by Italian Shoes. Your review captures some of its feeling and brings it depths back to me. I am very open to joining Fredrik’s journey again; it seems that last time he stripped himself of life’s trappings and this time, they are taken from him. Thanks for your review; I wasn’t aware of this follow on novel.
That’s a really neat sum up. Well, I think we have all been surprised by this ‘follow on’
I really like the sound of this. I don’t mind an unlikeable protagonist if they’re well-drawn and this really sounds like the novel’s strength. I’ve not read any Mankell although I enjoy the Wallander TV adaptations – I may start here rather than the Wallander series!
I really appreciate the one step forward two steps back slow incremental changes characters and relationships go through in the novel. Including the reader’s assessments of them
This sounds interesting, and a reflection of the state of our world. I love the quotes you have chosen. Perhaps this one will be added to my pile. I just finished a book of essays by Kyo Maclear, a children’s book writer that I admire. It’s called “Birds, Art, Life: A Year of Observation.” I’m thinking you might like it.
Jilanne, you are so right. Thank you. I did a ‘look inside’ on Amazon, and the opening started my eyes pricking, then the drawings made me realise this would never do on digi, that I would need to touch pages and fall into them. Then I read a couple of reviews where readers clearly shivered and quivered with moments of deep recognition. Ordered. This is clearly going to be one where all the iron in my haemoglobin lines up and steers North, thrumming and heard by me, like a flying, migrating bird. No doubt, at some distant point, a review may appear ( too busy, too behind, too distracted) I am pretty sure your ‘I think you might like It’ will count as a major understatement.
Oh yes!!! I hope to hear your reaction sometime down the road when you’ve had the chance to read it. I had checked it out from the library and now feel the need to buy my own copy and one for a friend.