Through a Glass, Darkly

jostein gaarder elizabeth rokkan

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.

Genres fictionphilosophyfantasyyoung adultnovelsscandinavian literaturecontemporaryliteraturechildrenschristmas

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1993

Literary awards

bokhandlerprisen, brageprisen for barne- og ungdomslitteratur,

This edition

Format: 176 pages, Paperback
Published: January 1, 1999 by Orion Childrens
ISBN: 9781858817699
ASIN: 1858817692
Language: English

About the author

jostein gaarder

Jostein Gaarder is a Norwegian intellectual and author of several novels, short stories, and children's books. Gaarder often writes from the perspective of children, exploring their sense of wonder about the world. He often uses meta-fiction in his works, writing stories within stories.

Gaarder was born into a pedagogical family. His best known work is the novel Sophie's World, subtitled "A Novel about the History of Philosophy." This popular work has been translated into fifty-three languages; there are over thirty million copies in print, with three million copies sold in Germany alone.

In 1997, he established the Sophie Prize together with his wife Siri Dannevig. This prize is an international environment and development prize (USD 100,000 = 77,000 €), awarded annually. It is named after the novel.