The Shadow Girls

This well-written story The Shadow Girls by Henning Mankell highlights the plight of refugees fleeing a past which has no hope and trying to find a life worth living in Sweden.  The story (published in Sweden in 2001) has only recently been translated into English.  Jesper Humlin a celebrated poet is having financial problems as his investments crash and his latest book of poems is not selling well.  His agent tries to persuade him to write a crime novel as this popular genre would make him a lot of money.  While on a book signing tour to promote his latest poetry book he meets three women who make a big impression on him as he learns their stories.  He is convinced theirs is the story he wants to tell as they are stories unknown to the general public because the women must remain hidden to avoid deportation. There is humour and poignancy in the telling of this story and shows the desperate lengths some will go to, those that retain the will to survive while others don't.  Very thought provoking. 41/2/5