Suddenly confronted with his own mortality after a routine checkup, eminent psychotherapist Julius Hertzfeld is forced to reexamine his life and work. He seeks out Philip Slate, a sex addict whom he failed to help some twenty years earlier. Yet Philip claims to be cured, miraculously transformed by the pessimistic teachings of German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, and is, himself, a philosophical counselor in training.

Philip's dour, misanthropic stance compels Julius to invite him to join his intensive therapy group in exchange for tutoring on Schopenhauer. But with mere months left, life may be far too short to help Philip or to compete with him for the hearts and minds of the group members. And then again, it might be just long enough.

It's almost Christmas, and Cecilia lies sick in bed as her family bustles around her to make her last Christmas as special as possible. Cecilia has cancer. An angel steps through her window.

So begins a spirited and engaging series of conversations between Cecelia and her angel. As the sick girl thinks about her life and prepares for her death, she changes subtly, in herself and in her relationships with her family.

Jostein Gaarder is a profoundly optimistic writer, who writes about death with wisdom, compassion, and an enquiring mind. Through a Glass, Darkly will not only bring comfort to the bereaved; it will move and amaze everyone who reads it.