A couple of years ago, one of my seniors gave me a book entitled The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared as a thank you gift when he graduated. That book sat on my shelf for a while until one day, I decided to give it a go. I was so enamoured by the story that I had trouble putting it down. I even went so far as to describe some of the plot to my daughter (who wasn’t really interested in the stories of a 100 year old man) because I felt like I had to talk to someone about it. It was that good.
Now fast forward to October 2017. Two days before the half-term break began, I came across another one of Jonasson’s books on the desk of one of my colleagues. Naturally, I snatched it up and took it home, figuring I’d tell her about it the next day. Well, by the next morning, we received a frantic email from said colleague who wanted to know if anyone had taken the book from her desk. You see, she had put it aside because a parent wanted to borrow it for the break! Great minds, right? Well, I pled my case and told her I’d bring it back if she really wanted me to, but I probably wanted to read it more than the parent so could-I-please-take-it-on-holidays-with-me-and-I-promise-to-bring-it-back-and-give-it-to-the-parent??
Thankfully, she said yes.
So I took this book to Bali with me and once again, I inhaled it (not literally, mind you). Jonasson knows how to tell a story. He knows his history and politics, too, and he is seamlessly able to weave these historical facts into his fictional story. I found myself looking up certain things just to see if they are true (hint: they are!). Without getting too much into it, let’s just say that on the surface, it seems improbable that a young girl from Soweto, South Africa could ever have anything to do with the King of Sweden, but she does. And it’s funny. And it’s heartbreaking. And it’s good. And I recommend it.
Go get it from your library, but please ask before your borrow it …
5/5 coffees