Two former lovers are brought back together ... but can they really trust their pasts? The new novel from the bestselling author of SOPHIE'S WORLD.
Through five intense years in the 1970s, Steinn and Solrunn had a happy life together. Then they suddenly parted ways, for reasons that are unclear to both. In the summer of 2007 they meet again on a balcony of an old wooden hotel by a fjord in western Norway. It is a place they both have fond memories from, and their meeting turns out to be fateful. But is it purely coincidental that they meet at that particular spot at that particular time? Over a couple of weeks that summer they write emails to each other, and it becomes clear that they have been living with very different interpretations of their shared past...
From the author of SOPHIE'S WORLD, a modern fairy tale with a philosophical twist.
'It should be read by all' VOGUE
'My father died eleven years ago. I was only four then. I never thought I'd hear from him again, but now we're writing a book together'
To Georg Røed, his father is no more than a shadow, a distant memory. But then one day his grandmother discovers some pages stuffed into the lining of an old red pushchair. The pages are a letter to Georg, written just before his father died, and a story, 'The Orange Girl'.
But 'The Orange Girl' is no ordinary story - it is a riddle from the past and centres around an incident in his father's youth. One day he boarded a tram and was captivated by a beautiful girl standing in the aisle, clutching a huge paper bag of luscious-looking oranges. Suddenly the tram gave a jolt and he stumbled forward, sending the oranges flying in all directions. The girl simply hopped off the tram leaving Georg's father with arms full of oranges. Now, from beyond the grave, he is asking his son to help him finally solve the puzzle of her identity.
A magical Christmas story from the bestselling author of Sophie's World
In the corner of a dusty old bookstore, a boy named Joachim discovers a magic advent calendar. When he opens the first door on 1st December, a small piece of paper falls out: on it is the beginning of a story about a little girl named Elisabet...
Little Elisabet has been missing ever since the day she ran after a lamb and found herself travelling right across Europe to Palestine, and back through 2000 years to meet the Holy Family in Bethlehem. There she met angels, shepherds and wise men who joined her on her pilgrimage.
Each of the twenty-four windows in Joachim's calendar hides another chapter in Elisabet's story, along with the key to unlock a renewed sense of awe at the true meaning of Christmas.
But who was Elisabet and where is she now? On Christmas Eve, all the pieces of the puzzle will come together...
A playful and inventive work from the bestselling author of SOPHIE'S WORLD.
A box of Latin manuscripts comes to light in an Argentine flea market. An apocryphal invention by some 17th or 18th century scolar, or a transcript of what it appears to be - a hitherto unheard of letter to St Augustine to a woman he renounced for chastity? VITA BREVIS is both an entrancing human document and a fascinating insight into the life and philosophy of St.Augustine. Gaarder's interpretation of Floria's letter is as playful, inventive and questioning as SOPHIE'S WORLD.
A mysterious novel by the author of the international bestseller SOPHIE'S WORLD.
A chance meeting on the Fijian island of Taveuni is the trigger for a fascinating and mysterious novel that intertwines the stories of John Spooke, an English author who is grieving for his dead wife; Frank Andersen, a Norwegian evolutionary biologist estranged from his wife Vera; and an enigmatic Spanish couple, Ana and Jose, who are absorbed in their love for each other. Why does Ana bear such a close resemblance to the model for Goya's famous Maja paintings? What is the significance of the Joker as he steps out of his pack of cards? As the action moves from Fiji to Spain, from the present to the past, unfolding further stories within the stories, the novel reveals an astonishing richness and complexity. As bold and imaginative in its sweep as Sophie's World, it shows again that Jostein Gaarder's unique and special gift is to make us wonder at the awe-inspiring mystery of the universe.
From the author of SOPHIE'S WORLD, 'A masterful mixture of fantasy and reality...a simply wonderful read' SHE.
Panina Manina, a trapeze artist, falls and breaks her neck. As the ringmaster bends over her, he notices an amulet of amber around her neck, the same trinket he had given his own lost child, who was swept away in a torrent some sixteen years earlier.
This tale is narrated by Petter, a precocious child and fantasist, and perhaps Jostein Gaarder's most intriguing character since Sophie. As an adult, Petter makes his living selling stories and ideas to professionals suffering from writer's block. But as Petter sits spinning his tales, he finds himself in a trap of his own making.
Twelve-year-old Hans Thomas lives alone with his father, a man who likes to give his son lessons about life and has a penchant for philosophy. Hans Thomas' mother left when he was four (to 'find' herself) and the story begins when father and son set off on a trip to Greece, where she now lives, to try to persuade her to come home. En route, in Switzerland, Hans Thomas is given a magnifying glass by a dwarf at a petrol station, and the next day he finds a tiny book in his bread roll which can only be read with a magnifying glass. How did the book come to be there? Why does the dwarf keep showing up? It is all very perplexing and Hans Thomas has enough to cope with, with the daunting prospect of seeing his mother. Now his journey has turned into an encounter with the unfathomable...or does it all have a logical explanation?
Conversations about life and death, between a girl and an angel.
It's almost Christmas. Cecilia lies sick in bed as her family bustle around her to make her last Christmas as special as possible. Cecilia has cancer. An angel steps through her window. So begins a spirited and engaging series of conversations between Cecelia and her angel. As the sick girl thinks about her life and prepares for her death, she changes subtly, in herself and in her relationships with her family.
Jostein Gaarder is a profoundly optimistic writer, who writes about death with wisdom, compassion and an enquiring mind. THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY will not only bring comfort to the bereaved. It will move and amaze everyone who reads it.
From the creative genius of Jostein Gaarder, author of modern classic Sophie's World, comes a novel about loneliness and the power of words
Jakop is a lonely man.
Divorced from his wife, with no friends apart from his constant companion Pelle, he spends his life attending the funerals of people he doesn't know, obscuring his identity in a web of improbable lies.
As his addiction spirals out of control, he is forced to reconcile his love of language and stories with the ever more urgent need for human connection.
An Unreliable Man is a moving and thought-provoking novel about loneliness and truth, about seeking a place in the world, and about how storytelling gives our lives meaning.
Decades after his global bestseller Sophie's World, Jostein Gaarder has written a poignant and funny book for our times - full of life and hope.
Praise for Sophie's World
'A TOUR DE FORCE' Time
'EXTRAORDINARY' Newsweek
'A UNIQUE POPULAR CLASSIC' The Times
'A SIMPLY WONDERFUL, IRRESISTIBLE BOOK' Daily Telegraph
The international bestseller about life, the universe and everything.
'A simply wonderful, irresistible book' DAILY TELEGRAPH
'A terrifically entertaining and imaginative story wrapped round its tough, thought-provoking philosophical heart' DAILY MAIL
'Remarkable ... an extraordinary achievement' SUNDAY TIMES
When 14-year-old Sophie encounters a mysterious mentor who introduces her to philosophy, mysteries deepen in her own life. Why does she keep getting postcards addressed to another girl? Who is the other girl? And who, for that matter, is Sophie herself? To solve the riddle, she uses her new knowledge of philosophy, but the truth is far stranger than she could have imagined.
A phenomenal worldwide bestseller, SOPHIE'S WORLD sets out to draw teenagers into the world of Socrates, Descartes, Spinoza, Hegel and all the great philosophers. A brilliantly original and fascinating story with many twists and turns, it raises profound questions about the meaning of life and the origin of the universe.
When fifteen-year-old Anna begins receiving messages from another time, her parents take her to the doctor. But he can find nothing wrong; in fact he believes there may be some truth to what she is seeing.
Anna is haunted by visions of the desolate world of 2082. She sees her great-granddaughter, Nova, roaming through wasteland with a band of survivors, after animals and plants have died out.
The more Anna sees, the more she realises she must act to prevent the future in her visions becoming real. But can she act quickly enough?
'Compelling' Sunday Times
