Rune Christiansen

Fanny and the Mystery in the Grieving Forest

Fanny is a young orphaned girl who tries to live as best as she can, alone on the outskirts of a small town. The days go by performing simple chores: getting to school, repairing the gutter, chopping wood and keeping the weeds at bay. But beyond these sorry conditions, there is the fairy tale, full of stubborn conceptions and possibilies. Through Fanny’s distinct approach to the world, this seemingly simple story becomes a simile about friendship, independence and transgression.

Fanny and the Mystery in the Grieving Forest is a both hopeful and deeply disturbing novel.

Praise for Fanny and the Mystery in the Grieving Forest:

“An exquisitely written novel of grief … Rune Christiansen shows yet again why he is one of Norway’s leading literary stylists … Reading Rune Christiansen is a pleasure unlike any other … [He] has a sense of words most writers can only dream about … a thoughtful, aesthetically outstanding novel about the small and big questions in life”
Aftenposten

“A magnificent novel … gripping, poetic and thought-provoking … Christiansen has written an incredibly wise and beautiful novel. It reminds us that life is dream, fairy-tale, myth, fable. That it’s harsh realities: crisis, shock, traumas and existential choices. But also: The forest, the sea, the breaking waves, the light. And above all: Love and the possibility of transformation”
6/6 stars, VG