Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder

Published by The Folio Society

An immersive, gently unsettling but essentially magical novel, Sophie’s World celebrates the natural curiosity we experience on the cusp of adulthood. Gaarder distils the works of the greatest philosophers into a fascinating historical timeline that wrested the book from its initial niche in the Young Adult category and propelled it onto mainstream bestseller lists around the world.

Alongside his preface for a previous edition, Gaarder has written a new preface specially commissioned by Folio in which he reveals that his intention had been ‘to write an accessible introduction to the history of European philosophy’. And yet, he has achieved so much more. As Sophie gets to grips with the teachings of Socrates, Plato, Descartes and Kant, she becomes better equipped to unravel her own mystery: who is Hilde and how exactly do their lives align? The deepest thinkers of the Western world are given brilliant new relevance as they enter adolescent consciousness, and their insights are drawn upon to navigate the modern world. But that’s just the beginning: an abandoned cabin in the woods, a winking mirror, a talking dog and a lesson in Lego-building all await – this book is full of fantastical surprises.

The Folio Society