Books from Norway

In the working-class Oslo neighbourhood of Tøyen, ten-year-old Ronja and her older sister Melissa are trying to hold their family together. Their father, who struggles with alcoholism and cannot keep a job, briefly finds work selling Christmas trees. But when he returns to his old habits, Melissa must take his place at the stall, working long hours before and after school. Ronja joins her, charming customers and selling Christmas wreaths to help keep food on the table. Told through Ronja’s observant, hopeful eyes, Brightly Shining captures the strange mixture of childhood innocence and adult responsibility. As Christmas approaches, the sisters dream of a warmer, kinder world, finding occasional help from strangers while concealing the reality of their home life. Their love for their father remains tangled with the knowledge that they cannot rely on him. With tenderness, quiet humour, and touches of magical realism, Ingvild H. Rishøi explores poverty, addiction, sisterhood, and the fragile hope that kindness can offer even in the darkest circumstances.