Author:Hans Christian Andersen,Karl Ove Knausgaard,Selma Lagerlöf,Vigdis Hjorth
Ranging from Hans Christian Andersen to Karl Ove Knausgaard, have yourself a Nordic noel with the very best Scandinavian Christmas tales
Have yourself a truly Scandinavian Christmas... Of visions and prophesies seen in dark, dark woods. Of toys and trees come to life. Of trolls raising chaos, and of families torn apart -- only to be brought back together by festive cheer.
In this collection, classic tales from Hans Christian Andersen and Nobel Prize winner Selma Lagerlof blend with modern day stories from Karl Ove Knausgaard and Vigdis Hjorth. Each touch on the warm and wild spirit of Christmas, where the cosiness and contentment of the season can often give way to the unexpected, magical and sometimes mystical.
A smorgasbord of strange literary gifts, let A Scandinavian Christmas transport you to a winter wonderland in which fantasy, the fantastic and the festive combine for your reading delight.
'These evocative, atmospheric tales...capture the spirit of Christmas' Sunday Express
These evocative, atmospheric tales...capture the spirit of Christmas
—— Charlotte Heathcote , Sunday Express, *Christmas Gift Guide 2021*A strange and beguiling series of stories, penned Scandinavia's literary greats, spanning three centuries... Beautifully decorated, this is a hardback any household would be proud to have adorn their coffee table
—— UK Press SyndicationA hygge Christmas is assured with these folksy traditional and modern stories... Best enjoyed with a steaming glass of glögg
—— Rose Shepherd , Saga Magazine, *Christmas Gift Guide 2021*A gorgeous collection of classic tales from everyone from Hans Christian Anderson to Karl Ove Knausgaard. Magical tales of winter wonderlands of dark woods, you'll love this smorgasbord of festive short stories!
—— Ed Susan , My Weekly, *Christmas Gift Guide 2021*Ditlevsen's wonderful and devastatingly bleak short stories simmer with melancholy and despair ... Her prose is clear and spare, pared back to the essential task of describing the struggle for an unwon freedom from domestic despair and unsatisfactory marriages
—— Daily MailThe depths of desire and despair are Ditlevsen's subjects and illuminating them is her talent
Ditlevsen's writing is crystal clear and vividly, painfully raw
—— The Paris ReviewA terrifying talent
—— The New York TimesHer writing is incredible, so focused and clear. Not a word that doesn't need to be there
—— Tracey ThornBrilliant...engrossing, thrilling and ultimately satisfying: each story has the weight of a novel.
—— Economist (on LIGHT LIFTING)Alexander MacLeod looks like a heavyweight in the making.
—— Irish Times (on LIGHT LIFTING)[Old Babes in the Wood] showcase[s] Atwood's spiky wit and imagination
—— Sunday ExpressThe 15 stories in this collection from the stellar Margaret Atwood are book-ended by the touching, tender, grief-tinged tales of Tig and Nell
—— Eithne Farry , Daily MailThere are authors we turn to because they can uncannily predict our future; there are authors we need for their skillful diagnosis of our present; and there are authors we love because they can explain our past. And then there are the outliers: those who gift us with timelines other than the one we're stuck in, realities far from home. If anyone has proved, over the course of a long and wildly diverse career, that she can be all four, it's Margaret Atwood . . . Long may she reign
—— New York Times Book ReviewAs affecting as any of Atwood's strongest work
—— WiredIn Old Babes in the Wood, Margaret Atwood delivers her signature sci-fi with a human heart. It is a story collection that teems with playfulness and invention... reminding us of her skill in the short form
—— Emily Watkins , iA highly personal collection
—— Lisa O'Kelly , ObserverThe Tig and Nell stories... are subtle and poignant, written in grief and from the heart
—— The OldieDevastating and thought-provoking in equal measure, you will find yourself thoroughly entertained - and we're sure you'll return to these again and again
—— GlamourOld Babes in the Wood... [is] a clear demonstration of her prevailing skill as a writer
—— Arts DeskAs her short story collection Old Babes in the Wood debuts at the top of the fiction chart, Margaret Atwood can rest assured that she has reached literary legend status. It was one thing for The Handmaid's Tale to make it to No 1, but quite another for stories narrated by snails and aliens to do it
—— The Sunday TimesHer latest collection of short stories... proves once again she's also an impassioned observer of everyday people and their struggles, with a hilarious sense of humour
—— RTE *Book Of The Week*Each [story] is interesting in its own right...Atwood's imagination and mastery of storytelling is evident
—— UK Press Syndication[A] writer who is still so sparky and brilliant in the sudden ways she tips you into despair or delight. Whatever she's up to, I'll take more if it's going
—— Alys Key , SpectatorQuietly devastating
—— Suzi Feay , The TabletAny new publication by the estimable Atwood...is an event and this collection of 15 short stories is no exception
—— Evening StandardBracing, darkly funny and cheerfully unsentimental
—— Guardian, *Summer Reads of 2023*