Shadow of the Leopard — Henning Mankell

Readers met Sofia previously in Secrets in the Fire, when, at the age of 9, she lost her legs in a land mine explosion.

Now Sofia is almost 20 and pregnant with her third child. Armando, the father of her children, travels to the city to work, coming home on weekends. One Saturday Armando is very late, and as he stands in the shadows beyond the firelight, Sofia knows he is hiding something from her. She makes her way to town to find out what he is doing Â...

Â... and is devastated to discover that he is involved with another woman. Sofia ends their relationship, but suffers terribly in the face of Armando's rage. In a heart-rending conclusion Armando's life unravels, and Sofia must return to her village to raise her children without him.

Shadow of the Leopard is an unforgettable story of love and betrayal, told with clear-eyed compassion and humane and strongly atmospheric insight.