The Solitaire Mystery

A novel for young readers which ranges far and wide in space and time. We follow a father and his son on their journey through Europe in search of the boy's mother, though underlying this theme are many other stories. What is the link between them? And why must Hans Thomas go back to a shipwreck in 1790 to understand why his mother left him to go to Athens? The author blends fantasy with reality, fairytales with family history. With warmth and understanding he portrays the relationship between father and son and their quest for an identity and a sense of belonging. The book is a journey through Europe - but also a journey backwards in time to some of the events that have made Hans Thomas what he is. Fate, or whatever it may have been, once shuffled the pack to produce him. Time goes round and round and there is a joker at large in the world. Hans Thomas is presented with a magnifying glass by a dwarf he meets at a petrol station in Switzerland; and in the little village of Dorf he is given a tiny book baked within a bun - which he is able to read with the aid of the magnifying glass.

Praise for The Solitaire Mystery:

"A sparkling injunction to be forever humorous, optimistic and above all curious, this is a book of marvels"
(Independent on Sunday)

"Elegant, thought-provoking and funny"
(Det fri Aktuelt)

"...a story-telling technique that brings to mind Umberto Eco’s In the Name of the Rose"
(Information)

"Fascinating...A playful, ingenious, frequently moving celebration of our persistent search for answers to the ultimate questions"
(Kirkus Reviews)

"A welcome blend of whimsy and wisdom... A delightful hybrid between Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle and Michael Ende’s The Neverending Story" (San Fransisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle Book Review)

"Enchanting, unpredictable, absorbing fun. This novel is another offbeat delight, ontology masquerading as an ingeniously constructed fairy tale"
(Publishers Weekly)

"Intellectually arresting, emotionally uplifting"
(Daily Telegraph)

"Here is an honest-to-goodness dream-making bedtime story for grown-ups in the proud tradition of Alice in Wonderland"
(LA Times)

Jostein Gaarder: Biography and bibliography

First published: 1990, Aschehoug Children and Young Adults

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