carriebee 's review for:

Brightly Shining by Ingvild H. Rishøi

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BRIGHTLY SHINING by Ingvild Rishøi, translated by Caroline Waight (thank you @groveatlantic @netgalley for the #gifted eARC)

On Christmas Eve this book caught my eye and I felt compelled to pick it up. I read a few pages and before I knew it I was halfway through. If I didn’t have holiday obligations I would have easily read it in one sitting and I could not stop thinking about it. BRIGHTLY SHINING is told from the perspective of ten-year-old Ronja who lives caught between a not-so-ideal reality and dreams of how things will be better from now on. As Christmas nears, her father (who frequently moves between jobs) gets hired at a local Christmas tree stand only to end up drinking away his pay advance. Ronja’s sister Melissa then gets a job at the stand to pay back this debt. While the sisters' lives do have a few bright spots, their situation is less than ideal. Ultimately hope is shining a light and we are reminded that sometimes, when there’s no other way out, miracles do happen.

When I was 18 I spent a year in Oslo as an exchange student. This created a lifelong love of all things Norwegian so I’m always excited to read Scandinavian literature. While I adore Norway, some of the things I witnessed in Oslo all those years ago were challenging. Segregation between classes and races and the status of refugees/immigrants/BIPOC caught the attention of this fairly naive 18 year old. This novel encapsulates some of these realities through the eyes of a child, creating a story that is heartbreaking yet incredibly hopeful. Ronja’s innocence allows her to see the good in those around her, without the biases we take on into adulthood, and gives her the ability to have dreams that aren’t tempered by reality.   

I’m not sure I would have been as invested in this story without this connection to the setting but it has solid blurbs and reminds us of what is truly important in a season that can often feel overtaken by capitalism. It’s heavy but also a “reality with a dash of hope” holiday story I appreciate.

I also love the inclusion of ketchup spaghetti. One of my favorite Norwegian dishes and I was never able to replicate it.