Joel is fifteen and has left school, wanting to become a merchant sailor and travel far away from his home town in Northern Sweden. But first he must face up to the past and meet his mother who ran off when he was little. After such a long time how will Joel and his dad cope with such a reunion and will Joel ever sail the seas as he dreams. . . ?
"I liked the pithy, Hemingway-esque style of this novel with its taut, short sentences. The story is both compelling and moving. This is the fourth and last book in a series about Joel, but I have not read the others and found that Journey to the End of the World reads very well as a stand-alone novel."
School Librarian Journal vol 56 no.3 Autumn 2008
"Mankell's style (admirably retained in the translation) is as spare as the northern Swedish landscape, producing characters which etch themselves into the reader's mind, describing emotions as fundamental and searing as they are eternal."
Write Away
"A tale told with humour, compassion and sensitivity."
