Chroniclers of the Wind, Henning Mankell
Chroniclers of the Wind marks a departure from author Henning Mankell’s usual line of crime fiction, although it explores some similar thematic issues. The novel is full of little amusing but sad anecdotes about a street urchin in an unnamed African port town, Nelio, renowned throughout the city for living on his wits. It is also about Jose Antonio Maria Vaz, a baker who hears gunfire and finds Nelio on his roof.
At the age of five, Nelio watched bandits burn his village to the ground and massacre his people. When ordered to shoot another boy, he turned the gun on the bandit and ran, making his way to the coast and encountering a bizarre character en route who gave him guidance. Upon arrival in the city, Nelio joined a rough street gang, and began a very different way of life.
Comical elements are balanced by Mankell’s realism, most likely created from his own experience as the director of Teatro Avenida (Street Theatre) in Mozambique’s capital Maputo and his long involvement in AIDS awareness programmes there. It is difficult to tell if the book is intended just to show a picture of misery or provide a solution to it. Although Jose decides to become a “chronicler of the wind” by telling Nelio’s story, it is unclear if he will carry out his new calling by whispering to African storm-clouds or take up arms against them. Mankell’s portrayal of the harrowing children’s ordeal is remarkable, and makes for compelling reading.
£12.99
Harvill Secker
