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.

Joel will soon be twelve, and he thinks nothing's going on in the small community where he lives. But he's wrong. One day, a miracle happens. He's run over by a bus but somehow comes through it unscathed. He now believes he must repay the favor by doing a good deed.  So he decides to find a husband for his friend, a young woman in town who is shy and lonely.  He plans to find the best candidate for a husband, and then secretly bring them together, with neither one being the wiser.

Even though his heart is in the right place, his plan backfires and his friend's feelings are hurt by the very person he thought would be best for her.  Joel feels terrible and knows that he must confess to his elaborate scheme to ultimately make things right.