The Eye of the Leopard

Interweaving past and present, Sweden and Zambia, The Eye of the Leopard draws on bestselling author Henning Mankell's deep understanding of the two worlds he has inhabited for over twenty years.

Hans Olofson lived through a tough childhood. His father drank himself into oblivion, and his mother was completely absent, only faded photographs offered Olofson any hint of what she may have been like. His adolescence was just as trying, and when his best friend and lover, Janine, tragically dies, he flees to Africa to carry out Janine's only real dream in life — to visit the grave of a legendary missionary in isolated Northern Zambia. Upon his arrival in Zambia, Olofson is stunned. He finds it beautiful and mysterious, so he decides to stay and make it his home, eventually taking control of a small farm. It is there that Olofson discovers the fragile truce between the rich newcomers and black natives of the recently independent state . . . a truce that could rupture at any moment.

Alternating between Olofson's years in Africa and those in Sweden, The Eye of the Leopard is a bravura achievement, a study in contrasts — black and white, poor and wealthy, Africa and Europe — and an exploration of the challenges and responsibilities that come with freedom.

Henning Mankell is the prize-winning and internationally acclaimed author of the Inspector Wallander mysteries, now dominating the bestseller lists throughout Europe. He devotes much of his free time to working with AIDS charities in Africa, where he is director of the Teatro Avenida in Maputo.