Depths

Zusatztext “Powerful fiction. . . . Only Mankell can summon with such a dream-like intensity the Nordic landscapes and climates he knows so well.” — The Guardian “Achieves a stark power as the lies and crimes of passion boomerang around.” — Entertainment Weekly “Shows us another dimension of [Mankell's] considerable talent. . . . Casts a remarkably powerful spell.” — Booklist “Mesmerically fascinating. . . . As fine a narrative performance as any of Mankell's yet.” — The Independent Informationen zum Autor Henning Mankell is the internatinally acclaimed, bestselling author of the Kurt Wallander novels.  Mankell's novels have been translated into forty-five languages and have sold more than forty million copies worldwide. He was the first winner of the Ripper Award and also received the Glass Key and the Crime Writers’ Association Golden Dagger, among other awards. His Kurt Wallander mysteries have been adapted into a PBS television series starring Kenneth Branagh. During his life, Mankell divided his time between Sweden and Mozambique, where he was artistic director of the Teatro Avenida in Maputo. He died in 2015. Klappentext Mankell confirms his status as a writer deserving acclaim beyond the crime genre. By delving deep into the male psyche! he produces a novel as tense and compelling in every way as the Wallander series! but also powerful! moving! and ultimately tragic. CHAPTER 1 They used to say that when there was no wind the cries of the lunatics could be heard on the other side of the lake. Especially in autumn. The cries belonged to autumn. Autumn is when this story begins. In a damp fog, with the temperature hovering just above freezing, and a woman who suddenly realizes that freedom is at hand. She has found a hole in a fence. It is the autumn of 1937. The woman is called Kristina Tacker and for many years she has been locked away in the big asylum near Säter. All thoughts of time have lost their meaning for her. She stares at the hole for ages, as if she does not grasp its significance. The fence has always been a barrier she should not get too close to. It is a boundary with a quite specific significance. But this sudden change? This gap that has appeared in the fence? A door has been opened by an unknown hand, leading to what was until now forbidden territory. It takes a long time for it to sink in. Then, cautiously, she crawls through the hole and finds herself on the other side. She stands, motionless, listening, her head hunched down between her tense shoulders, waiting for somebody to come and take hold of her. For all the twenty-two years she has been shut away in the asylum she has never felt surrounded by people, only by puffs of breath. Puffs of breath are her invisible warders. The big, heavy buildings are behind her, like sleeping beasts, ready to pounce. She waits. Time has stood still. Nobody comes to take her back. Only after prolonged hesitation does she take a first step, then another, until she disappears into the trees. She is in a coniferous forest. There is an acrid smell, reminiscent of rutting horses. She thinks she can make out a path. She makes slow progress, and only when she notices that the heavy breathing which surrounded her in the asylum is no longer there can she bring herself to turn round. Nothing but trees on every side. She does not worry about the path having been a figment of her imagination and no longer discernible, as she is not going anywhere in particular. She is like scaffolding surrounding an empty space. She does not exist. Within the scaffolding there has never been a building, or a person. Now she is moving very quickly through the forest, as if she did have an objective beyond the pine trees after all. From time to time she stands, stock-still, as if by degrees turn...

Product details

• Authors: Henning Mankell, Henning/ Thompson Mankell
• Assisted by: Laurie Thompson (Translation)
• Publisher: Vintage USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 15.04.2008
• EAN: 9780307385864
• ISBN: 978-0-307-38586-4
• No. of pages: 416
• Dimensions: 133 mm x 202 mm x 23 mm
• Series: VINTAGE BOOKS
• Subject: Fiction > Suspense