Italian Shoes by the Swedish author Henning Mankell, who has given us the great Inspector Kurt Wallander mysteries, also has a very impressive list of stand- alone novels. This one reminded me of Per Petterson’s Out Stealing Horses in its sparse writing and isolated setting The main character, Dr. Fredrik Welin has isolated himself on a remote island in Sweden. He has imposed this “punishment” on himself after a tragic mistake happened during a surgery he performed 12 years earlier and he walked away from his career as a successful surgeon. Over the period of a year, starting with the unexpected arrival of his lover from 30 years ago Fredrik has to confront and accept the consequences of decisions he made over the past 30 years.

There are so many thought-provoking passages throughout this book it is necessary to just stop and think about what you just read. Not an upbeat book, but finishes up with hope for the future. ~Cindy