Brightly Shining

Beautifully told with humor and tenderness, a Norwegian Christmas tale of sisterhood and financial struggles, far-off dreams and tough reality, acclaimed by reviewers and beloved by readers across Europe, where it has been a major bestseller. Christmas is just around the corner, and Ronja and Melissa’s dreamer of a father is out of work again. When ten-year-old Ronja hears about a job at a Christmas tree stand near where the family lives in central Oslo, she excitedly tells her dad. Soon, the fridge fills with food, and their father comes back home with red cheeks and a smile on his face. But one evening he disappears into the night under the pretense of buying Christmas gifts—and the daughters know he has gone to his favorite local pub, Stargate, and they come to terms with the fact that he may soon lose his wonderful new job. Melissa decides to take his place at the Christmas tree stand, working before and after school in the December afternoon dark, and bringing little Ronja with her, who quickly charms all the middle-class customers. On rare breaks the sisters dream of a brighter place of kindness and plenty, and find help from some of those around them—but both understand that their family structure is a precarious one, and that they are going to need luck and strength to transcend their circumstances. Imaginatively told, evoking the delight, misunderstandings, and innocence of a child’s voice, Brightly Shining. is small in stature but with an outsize impact on the reader, and has all the markings of a modern classic.