In an old fairy story Panina Manina, a trapeze artist, falls and breaks her neck. As the ringmaster bends over her he notices an amulet of amber around her neck, the same trinket he had given his own lost child, swept away in a torrent some sixteen years earlier.
The theme of a father finding a long lost daughter runs through this novel which is told by Petter, a precocious child and fantasist a Norwegian Billy Liar. Petter's magical interior world contains Metre Man, a midget with a green felt cap and a bamboo cane; Metre Man runs his life and urges him to do things.
As an adult, Petter's incredible imagination leads him to become a ghost writer known only as The Spider but he become involves in a sequence of literary deceits which are brought to a head at the Bologna Bookfair at the same time as events conspire to bring him face to face with his own long lost daughter.
About the Author
Jostein Gaarder shot to fame with the publication of Sophie's World. Originally a high school philosophy teacher, he has written a number of novels for adults and children. He is Norwegian and lives in Oslo with his wife Siri. They have two grown-up sons.
Industry Reviews
Petter is a strange and clever child, both blessed and cursed by his over-active imagination. From an early age he is overwhelmed and isolated by the swarm of thoughts, ideas and characters that constantly jostle for prominence in his brain. He is close to his eccentric and romantic mother and they share a love of theatre and classical music; but she is self-absorbed and too often leaves her sensitive young son alone. He has little rapport with his well-meaning but absent father and shuns other close relationships. When Petter grows up and falls in love with Maria he believes he has found his soulmate, but Maria is both captivated and terrified by his imagination and eventually his distance from reality and her need for freedom drive them apart, but not before Petter has impregnated her with a child he agrees not to have any relationship with. He sells his soul in order to be rid of his excess thoughts by brokering his synopses to would-be writers, claiming only financial reward with no interest in recognition. He becomes the ultimate ghostwriter, enjoying the power that he has over his dependent writers and their talent. Known anonymously as 'The Spider', Petter weaves an increasingly intricate and precarious web throughout the literary community. But as the web closes in, it threatens to destroy its creator. This is a highly original tale from the author of the international bestseller Sophie's World. The story is narrated by Petter and carried along by his whirlpool of creativity, which spawns a multitude of intricate stories within the main narrative. Haunting and enthralling, it's a remarkable read. (Kirkus UK)
