A powerful, haunting story set in Mozambique by a world-renowned author.

Reviews

Gr 9 Up-Mankell's third novel about Sofia picks up where Secrets in the Fire (Annick, 2003) left off. At the age of nine, Sofia lost her legs and one of her sisters to a land mine. After struggling to recover from her injuries, she lost another sister to the AIDS virus. Now 19 and pregnant with her third child, Sofia lives in a Mozambique village with her mother, brothers, and her two older children. Her husband, Armando, works in the city as a car mechanic and visits his family every weekend. After years of tragedy and death, Sofia's life finally seems to be stable and happy. However, after the birth of their child, Armando becomes distant and secretive. When she sets out to the city to see him, she learns that he is having an affair. Enraged and hurt, she confronts Armando, who becomes hostile and verbally abusive. He attempts to reconcile with her, but when she refuses, he abandons her to the wild animals in a distant field. Oddly enough, Sofia suddenly feels compelled to defend him when the police are looking for him. Readers do not need to be familiar with the previous two novels to follow the plot or characters in this story. The writing style is spare and detached from emotion, which might make the book a tough sell. Still, this novel moves along quickly to a realistic yet hopeful ending.-Lynn Rashid, Marriotts Ridge High School, Marriottsville, MD Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.

The writing [is] great, the characters and their actions are all believable...It should have a place in most libraries.--Saleena Davidson"INFOLINK" (06/30/2009)