I became so bewitched while reading Henning Mankell's novel "A Treacherous Paradise" I took my time as I neared the end, because I hoped the resolution would be a happy one. Based on a real person, the fictional protagonist Hanna Renstrom is a perpetually lost soul in a world full of rejection, prejudice and cruelty. Forced out on her own at a young age she endures an arduous journey that leads her from Sweden to Lourenco Marques, Beira and the unknown. Set in the early 1900s she eventually becomes the owner of a brothel, and a very wealthy woman, when her second husband dies. Despite her feelings about the business, and the heartless racism the Blacks were subject to in Colonial Africa, she still manages to hang onto her humanity and befriend a chimpanzee named Carlos, who becomes her animal soul mate. Unbearably sad, but beautifully written, Mankell managed to give an ugly time an aura that mystified and gave pleasure at the same time. Hanna Renstrom is a nineteen year old girl living in poverty in Sweden. The year is 1904. With the help of her mother and others, she boards a ship bound for Australia in the hope she will find a better life than the one she is leading. Nothing prepares her for what she does experience; the elusiveness of love, racism in Africa, what it means to be rich and a business owner, and most of all loneliness. It was a interesting story but I had a hard time connecting with Hanna. She seemed so emotionally distant. Something kept me from really relating to her and her plight. Hence the reason for the three stars.
Do You like book Minnet Av En Smutsig ängel (2000)?
