"This is a book you can read many times and discover new things each time. A classic book for all ages, in the sense that experienced readers will read into the text in ways that less experienced readers might not, but the youngest doesn’t feel cheated of anything because of that. Tjønn and Torseter’s fairy-tale world is a fascinating and moving universe." -DAGBLADET

"Poetic and dreamlike, rushing, soaring, beautiful and sharp." -BARNEBOKKRITIKK.NO

“‘Who is that running in the middle of the night? / Oh, it’s Vera.’ Vera steps out a window, eyes closed, into the snow. She glides forward, airborne, ethereal in her ‘light and billowy’ nightgown. Her long hair flows out behind her, ensnaring a boy in pajamas from a tree branch. His eyes, like Vera’s, are closed. Vera’s hair, still flowing behind her, cradles and carries him as they fly through landscapes of folklore and ghouls. Torseter’s fine-lined drawings are loose-handed, minimalist, and eerie. Tree roots in underground caves reach out; skeletons nestle; trees wail. Readers learn, obliquely, that this is a ritual that is reenacted repeatedly. When Vera and the boy, Salander, reach the lake this time, a huge woman rises out of the water, and Vera asks her to ‘tell…the most beautiful story.…The one where there is so much pain, but everything is fine in the end.’ Telling it, the woman brings Salander back to life. Vera can hear his heart now, and as she carries him home in her arms, ‘she feels his warm breath on her cheek.’ … Tjønn’s piece about processing grief is like fresh bereavement itself. A delicate, unnerving meditation.” -Kirkus Reviews

Brynjulf Jung Tjønn (b. 1980) made his literary debut with the novel I Came to Love (Eg kom for å elske) in 2002. He has since published a number of books for both children and adults. His young adult novel You Are So Beautiful (Så vakker du er) won the Brage Prize for children's and young adult literature in 2013.

Øyvind Torseter is a Norwegian artist and illustrator who has created eight books on his own and several with other authors. He’s received numerous awards for his books, including a Bologna Ragazzi Award and the Norwegian Book Art Prize. In 2014, Øyvind was a finalist for the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award. This is his sixth book to be published by Enchanted Lion.