Description

Christmas is just around the corner, and Ronja and Melissa’s father is out of work. When ten-year-old Ronja hears about a job selling Christmas trees, she thinks it might be the stroke of luck they all need. Soon, the fridge fills with food and their father comes home smiling, covered in spruce needles. But the local pub has an irresistible pull and he quickly abandons his responsibilities.

Melissa decides to take his place at the Christmas tree stand, working before and after school, and bringing Ronja
with her. On rare breaks in the dark of a Norwegian December they dream of a brighter place of kindness and plenty – and find there are some people in the world who might help them.

Small in stature but with an outsize impact on the reader, Brightly Shining has all the markings of a magical
modern classic.

Publisher Review

A charming, Christmas-themed novella about sisterhood and financial hardship…This has the feel of a classic holiday tale * Publishers Weekly * This moving tale, with not a single wasted word, asks how we keep going when hope fades and life’s burdens become too much to bear, leaning on the power of imagination and connection to find a way forward * Booklist * There is real magic in this charming novel about care, community and the kindness of strangers. It is a deeply affecting story, beautifully told, that is sure to touch the hearts of many readers — Douglas Stuart, Booker Prize-winning author of SHUGGIE BAIN Deceptively simple, deceptively innocent, told from the perspective of a bright-eyed, too-wise child, Brightly Shining has the power of a classic. You will read it in a single sitting, then carry it in your heart — Claire Messud A dazzling contemporary fable of hardship and grit about two sisters who refuse to lose hope. Curl up with it for instant hygge and a warming of the heart — Lily King, author of WRITERS AND LOVERS Brightly Shining feels fresh as spruce needles and ancient as bedrock. The clear and hopeful voice of Ronja slips easily into your heart and takes up residence like a breathless memory, like a song of unbearable beauty. I want to read more Ingvild Rishoi, and the sooner the better — Leif Enger, author of I CHEERFULLY REFUSE Probably going to stay with me for the rest of my life . . . A magnificently beautiful story, at the intersection between Astrid Lindgren and H.C. Andersen . . . in the same league as the absolute
best that has been written in Nordic literature * FriFagbevegelse (Norway) * A little miracle * Les Echos (France) * Rishoi doesn’t lose control for even a second. Her reins are tight, the words are exactly where they ought to be . . . Rishoi makes her vulnerable and tender Christmas story grow into the reader
and take place there * Dagens Nyheter (Sweden) *