A review by sawyerbell
The Tuner of Silences, by Mia Couto
4.0
For eight years, Mwanito lives with his father, brother and two other men in his father's silent and self-created land of Jezoosalem, while his father waits for an apology from God. Mwanito has been told the rest of the world is dead. He has never seen a woman. Then one day, a woman arrives, throwing everything Mwanito thinks he knows into chaos.
The first half of Mia Couto's novel, set mostly on a deserted game reserve in war torn Mozambique, is achingly sad and atmospherically beautiful. There are startling scenes with magic realist elements and breathtaking images. From the first page, I was immediately drawn into Mwanito's world and felt I was going to be giving this book both five stars and my heart.
Alas, once The Woman arrives around half-way through the tale, the spell was bruised if not broken. What Couto doesn't know about women is a lot and the chapters (thankfully few in number) written in The Woman's voice were quease-making.
Overall, though, this was an impressive introduction to Couto's work and I'll be reading more by him.
The first half of Mia Couto's novel, set mostly on a deserted game reserve in war torn Mozambique, is achingly sad and atmospherically beautiful. There are startling scenes with magic realist elements and breathtaking images. From the first page, I was immediately drawn into Mwanito's world and felt I was going to be giving this book both five stars and my heart.
Alas, once The Woman arrives around half-way through the tale, the spell was bruised if not broken. What Couto doesn't know about women is a lot and the chapters (thankfully few in number) written in The Woman's voice were quease-making.
Overall, though, this was an impressive introduction to Couto's work and I'll be reading more by him.