A wildly picaresque new novel from Jonas Jonasson, author of the internationally bestselling The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
In a tiny shack in the largest township in South Africa, Nombeko Mayeki is born. Put to work at five years old and orphaned at ten, she quickly learns that the world expects nothing more from her than to die young, be it from drugs, alcohol … die young, be it from drugs, alcohol or just plain despair. But Nombeko has grander plans. She learns to read and write, and at just fifteen, using her cunning and fearlessness, she makes it out of Soweto with millions of smuggled diamonds in her possession. Then things take a turn for the worse . . .
Nombeko ends up the prisoner of an incompetent engineer in a research facility working on South Africa’s secret nuclear arsenal. Yet the unstoppable girl pulls off a daring escape to Sweden, where she meets twins named Holger One and Holger Two, who are carrying out a mission to bring down the Swedish monarchy . . . by any means necessary. Nombeko’s life ends up hopelessly intertwined with the lives of the twins, and when the twins arrange to kidnap the Swedish king and prime minister, it is up to our unlikely heroine to save the day—and possibly the world.
In this wild romp, Jonasson tackles issues ranging from the pervasiveness of racism to the dangers of absolute power while telling a charming and hilarious story along the way. In the satirical voice that has earned him legions of fans the world over, Jonasson gives us another rollicking tale of how even the smallest of decisions can have sweeping—even global—consequences.
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What a delightful book! This follows a girl from South Africa as she works her way out of the slum where she grew up, gets caught up in the South African nuclear program, and finally manages to escape to Sweden with some very unusual luggage in tow. The wild cast of characters includes two twins called Holger (one mostly goes by “the idiot” and the other doesn’t technically exist), an angry young woman, three hapless Chinese girls, and a grandmother who’s definitely (definitely!) a countess. The plot includes so many twists and turns, spurred on by one extremely unlikely coincidence after the next, that it’s impossible to summarize. It’s a crazy book – but it’s told in a plain, matter-of-fact voice with a hint of snark that’s phenomenally entertaining.
A book this crazy requires some serious suspension of disbelief. But it’s also thoroughly self-aware, so I didn’t mind: if the narrator is willing to let it go, well then, I can too. And boy, was I rewarded.
What a fun book, what memorable characters, and what a joy to read. I’m already looking forward to Jonasson’s other, equally promising titles, starting with The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. If it’s anything like this one, it’ll be a marvelous ride.
I enjoyed this book from the moment I picked it up to the ending. It was very funny, filled with unexpected outcomes and unpredictable characters. It also gave the reader insight into apartheid and of all things how to build an Atomic Bomb, and last but not leas,t South African History in the period of Apartheid and after, It also discussed parts of Swedish history and political system. And China.
If you need a good laugh, this is absurdist humor at its best! As good as the author’s “100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared.”
A genius latrine cleaner, a man with no identity and an atomic bomb. What could go wrong? In terms of story, you can get much better than this.
Another of Jonasson’s quirky and often hilarious tales of fate, feast, or famine that span across many countries. We follow the escapades of Nambeko as she grows and learns and solves problems that nobody should have to calculate. She collects people and makes friends along her trials and tribulations. Great story.
OMG what a story! I listed to the audiobook twice and couldn’t stop giggling.
Brilliantly thought out. Characters are memorable….and different! Loved the unpredictability of the book. A great read.
Loved it
Fun, tongue-in-cheek
Does not live up to the hype. Read Tom Sharpe, P.G. Woodhouse, Terry Pratchett if you need your laughs.
I’m not sure how a book this good only attracts 4 stars average. After the wonders of The 100 Year Old Man… I was sceptical Jonasson could repeat the success. But actually, without being formulaic in anyway, he manages to retain a similar style. This is a good thing.
As before, there is a plethora of memorable characters, all perfectly realised. I personally think it’s strange that humour is a category by itself. All the best books have humour in their DNA (would Pride and Prejudice work without Mrs Bennett?).
I have read this twice because I knew I hadn’t caught everything first time around.
I chuckled with delight at the twists and turns in this book. The characters were original, well developed and quite quirky. It is a book to read for the sheer joy of reading.
I am one of those people who ALWAYS finishes a book I’ve started…even if I hate it. This book is the first time in a while that I actually didn’t finish it. It just didn’t grab me in any way at all. I didn’t like the characters I met, and I ended up not caring about what happened to them. So I put the book down. The only caveat I will give is that quite possibly these characters become endearing at a later point in the book, but I just didn’t want to wade through any more verbiage to find out. Sorry!
I wasn’t sure I liked this book when I started it, but by the end I loved it! The humor kept me going, and the unexpected twists kept me interested. Highly recommended!
I loved this preposterous plot and characters , charming, good summer read.
I loved this book. I listened to the audio version. The narrator was wonderful. The story was ironic, witty and fun to listen to. A good laugh.
fabulous!
Haven’t laughed so hard in years. The neighbors must think I have gone nuts.
Jonasson made me think about Apartheid and modern monarchies in a whole new way. The “spoon full of sugar” made the medicine go down with a lot of laughter.
confusing…must have LOST SOMETHING IN TRANSLATION