Italian Shoes

Living on an island with two ancient pets and a colony of ants intent on devouring his dining room table, 66-year-old former surgeon Fredrik Welin finds that his life is as frozen as the sea that surrounds him. He receives neither mail nor visitors, and he daily chops a hole in the ice and takes a punishing morning bath to remind himself he's alive. This icy idyll ends with the unexpected appearance of Harriet, the lover he abandoned in his youth. In tones that blend ennui and ironic awareness, Henry Strozier blends the details of Welin's self-imposed exile with a portrait of his unwillingness to face his own humanity. Swedish author Henning Mankell, known for his Kurt Wallander mystery series, offers a rich, thoughtful reflection on human isolation and redemption. Strozier's controlled, nontheatrical performance is a perfect fit. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

Starred review from February 23, 2009
A tragic operating room error has cost Swedish surgeon Fredrik Welin his career in this moving novel from Mankell, who's best known for his Kurt Wallander mystery series (Firewall
, etc.). Welin, 66, lives on a remote island with only his dog and cat for company. His routine is abruptly shattered by the arrival of an elderly woman who proves to be Harriet Hörnfeldt, the youthful love he ditched four decades earlier. Hörnfeldt, who's dying of cancer, has sought out Welin because she wants to share a secret about their relationship. This reintroduction to the world of human emotions and interactions proves to be the first of many, leading the doctor to an awkward attempt to get absolution from the woman whose perfectly healthy arm he mistakenly amputated. Mankell displays his considerable gifts for characterization as he succeeds in making his emotionally limited lead character sympathetic.