The perfect Christmas present or stocking filler for anyone who loves warming winter tales Jostein Gaarder's UK sales stand at 2 million and SOPHIE'S WORLD has now sold over 12 million copies world wide THE CHRISTMAS MYSTERY has already sold over 250,000 in paperback All Gaarder's paperbacks have been Guardian Top 100 Fastsellers and Sunday Times bestsellers 'THE CHRISTMAS MYSTERY is a skilful and lasting achievement, with all the elements of a perfect Christmas tale' The Times 'Rich in imagery and digs deep into memory, legend and tradition' Guardian
Jostein Gaarder is the author of SOPHIE'S WORLD, a huge bestseller in over 40 countries. He was born in Oslo in 1952 and lives there now with his wife and two teenage sons.
'an enchanting tale of children in two different times. It is quirky, magical, and full of the kind of repetitive jingles that children like to learn and repeat, as well as being studded with little pearls of wisdom.' -- Kathleen Marshall THE SCOTSMAN
'an enchanting tale of children in two different times. It is quirky, magical, and full of the kind of repetitive jingles that children like to learn and repeat, as well as being studded with little pearls of wisdom.' -- Kathleen Marshall THE SCOTSMAN
Even grownups enjoy a bedtime story every now and then, especially one that combines, as does this one, the sophistication of a novel with the whimsy of a fairy tale. Gaarder, the Norwegian former professor of philosophy who brought us The Solitaire Mystery (1996) and the bestselling Sophie's World (1995), is up to his usual tricks here, serving up a metaphysical brainteaser that unfolds into a warm‘but not preachy‘meditation on God and the Christian doctrines. Set in an unnamed town in present-day Norway, it tells the story of Joachim, a young boy who finds a faded, handmade Advent calendar in a bookstore on the eve of December first, and begs his father to let him take it home. The next morning, when he opens the calendar's first door, Joachim discovers not just the expected picture but also a tightly folded piece of paper, the first installment of the fantastic tale of a little girl's journey through time and space to be present at the Nativity. Soon the girl's story is making unexpected intrusions into Joachim's own life, and he races to solve the mystery of the calendar before Christmas Eve. First published in Norway in 1992, this work is less structurally sophisticated than Gaarder's later ones, and some will be dismayed by a repeated pro-Palestine, anti-Israel theme that undercuts the novel's larger message of universal tolerance and harmony. But in the end it is Gaarder's frank, friendly voice and the adorable character he has created in the inquisitive, enthusiastic Joachim that stay in the reader's mind. (Nov.)
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