The Christmas Mystery
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The Christmas Mystery (Norwegian: Julemysteriet) is a Norwegian novel for children by Jostein Gaarder. The story has one chapter for each day of Advent. It uses the device of a "Story within a story" as a young boy, Joachim, reads a story hidden behind each window in an advent calendar, and he and his family try to find out about the mysterious flower seller, John, who appears to have made the calendar, and about Elisabet Hansen, a girl who disappeared in Norway many years earlier. Adding to the mystery is a photograph taken in Rome of a young woman - on the back of the photograph John has written 'Elisabet' - is she the same Elisabet? The story within the advent calendar follows Elisabet as, with the angel Ephiriel and an increasing host of other characters, she crosses Europe whilst also travelling backwards in time towards Bethlehem to see the Christ-child. They meet other pilgrims which join the journey. The man Jon, who made the magical advent calendar, visits Joachim, who is name is pronounced yoa-kim.
[edit] Story
Joachim buys a magic advent calendar on November 30 and every day, a piece of paper falls out of the door of the calendar. Each page tells the story of Elisabet Hansen, who chases a toy lamb that has come to life from an Oslo department store. While chasing the lamb, she meets the angel Ephiriel; the shepherds Joshua and Jacob; Caspar, the King of the Orient; and the cherub Impuriel.
