In this companion book to A Bridge to the Stars, twelve-year-old Joel is run over by a bus. Somehow he survives without a scratch. People repeatedly call it a miracle, and so Joel decides it must be. He feels that he has to repay the miracle by performing a good deed, so Joel chooses to play matchmaker to a woman who is disfigured. When his good deed does not turn out as planned, Joel puts together a scheme to repair hurt feelings. Mankell’s companion novels about Joel and his father are A Bridge to the Stars, When the Snow Fell, and Journey to the End of the World. pwc

Originally published as Skuggorna vaxer i skymningen in Swedish by Rabén & Sjögren Sweden, in 1991. Translated by Laurie Thompson.