The eye of the leopard : [a novel of Africa

Interweaving past and present, Sweden and Zambia, rich and poor, The Eye of the Leopard is a stunning novel from a modern master. Hans Olofson arrives in Zambia not long after independence, hoping to fulfill the missionary dream of his recently deceased friend Janice. Africa is a complete shock to Olofson, yet he chooses to stay and make it his home, eventually taking control of a small farm. Here, he learns of the fragile truce between the white and black populations of Zambia, and rumors of an underground army of revolutionaries wearing leopard skins alert him that violence may erupt at any moment. As a wealthy white man, he grows increasingly fearful and returns in his mind to the traumatic events that drove him from Sweden, playing back the complicated events of his past, as his present races toward a thrilling climax.

Interweaving past and present, Sweden and Zambia, rich and poor, The Eye of the Leopard is a stunning novel from a modern master.

Hans Olofson arrives in Zambia not long after independence, hoping to fulfill the missionary dream of his recently deceased friend Janice. Africa is a complete shock to Olofson, yet he chooses to stay and make it his home, eventually taking control of a small farm. Here, he learns of the fragile truce between the white and black populations of Zambia, and rumors of an underground army of revolutionaries wearing leopard skins alert him that violence may erupt at any moment. As a wealthy white man, he grows increasingly fearful and returns in his mind to the traumatic events that drove him from Sweden, playing back the complicated events of his past, as his present races toward a thrilling climax.

Publishers Weekly

Best known for his Kurt Wallander mysteries (Firewall, etc.), Mankell alternates between the coming-of-age story of Hans Olofson, a provincial Swede who grows up in a motherless home with an alcoholic father, and Olofson's later experiences in Zambia in this fine, unsentimental exploration of vastly different cultures. Having come to believe that Sweden holds nothing for him, Olofson decides to go to Africa to visit a mission, prompted by the strangest woman in town, Janine, who's shunned because of an operation that left her with no nose. Olofson stays in Zambia for 18 years, running a struggling egg farm and dealing with a culture he never fully understands. Mankell is terrific at sketching the cultural differences between the West and Africa-in particular, the anguish of the independent states. Sweden and the West may be more pragmatic and less superstitious than Africa, but greed and corruption are universal. Still, it's the character of Olofson and his complex, unsettling relationship with the Zambians and Africa that make this disquieting novel so compelling. (May)

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'Absorbing, chilling and dripping with evil atmosphere' The Times Since his mother's disappearance, Hans Olofson has led an isolated life. When he loses his girlfriend in tragic circumstances, he decides to fulfil her dream: to visit the grave of a legendary missionary in Zambia. On reaching Africa, Hans is struck by its beauty and mystery, and an opportunity of employment tempts him to stay. But he soon becomes embroiled in the issues of the local community. As relationships splinter and fray, Hans realises that his African dream is rapidly turning into a nightmare... Hans Olofson is the son of a Swedish lumberjack. His childhood was unsettled: an alcoholic father, and a mother disappeared, only alive in old photographs. Alone and adrift, as a young man his only desire is to fulfil his lover's dream and visit the grave of a legendary missionary who survived alone in the remote hills of Northern Zambia. Arriving in newly independent Zambia in the hopes of fulfilling a friend's missionary dream, Hans Olofson endeavors to make Africa his home while struggling with such past demons as his father's alcoholism and a friend's accident--Publisher