In her moving novel Brightly Shining – Dua’s Monthly Read for December – Norwegian author Ingvild Rishøi offers a tender, unvarnished look at a family navigating love, instability, and the stubborn hope that carries a child through difficult times. This month on the Service95 Book Club podcast, Dua sits down with Ingvild to talk about crafting a story that feels both fragile and fiercely human, which you can watch or listen to here.
In this Service95 Book Club exclusive, Ingvild reads a passage that captures the novel’s intimate focus: a family caught in the familiar rhythm of crisis and shaky new starts. The scene follows a father trying to regain his footing and two daughters who have grown used to carrying responsibility far beyond their years. What emerges is a portrait of a home where exhaustion and tenderness exist side by side.
It’s a little taste of why Brightly Shining stays with you – not because it looks away from hardship, but because it brings out the fragile hope that keeps shining through it. Watch the full reading below...
Watch Ingvild’s full reading video here or listen to it as a podcast here .
