by Henning Mankell, 2010
Rich, powerful Chinese man (Ya Ru) takes revenge on 19 Swedish people living in a remote village in Sweden. Their ancestor was cruel and brutal to his Chinese ancestor, San, on the railroad, and then again back in China at a Christian mission. Story of revenge taken way too far. Birgitta Roslin, Swedish judge, ends up figuring it out just by accident-finding where the red ribbon found in the snow came from (Chinese restaurant), asking questions of the Chinese waitress, which took her to a hotel and the owner ended up providing her a picture of a Chinese man who stayed there the night of the massacre.
Very interesting, especially the first half. Took you to Sweden, America, in the late 1800s, building the railroad, China in the late 1800s and modern-day, then Africa, London. The modern-day Chinese plan was to ship millions of their peasants to Africa (Zimbabwe & Mozambique) to farm in Africa-keep them from revolting in China.
Very, very interesting book – strong female characters – the Swedish judge, Birgitta Roslin, and the beautiful Chinese woman, Hong Qiu. She was Ya Ru’s sister. He ends up murdering her in Africa because she was against his corruption.