An extraordinarily moving book... The chief strength of this book - and what makes it such a beautiful, moving document - is in the descriptions that Mankell gives of the joy and suffering he has seen, especially in Africa... Throughout Quicksand, there are scenes [of] joy and triumph in the midst of suffering and loss. This grave book, intensely beautiful in spirit, takes us to these places in the thoughtful company of a great soul Alexander McCall Smith New Statesman