The Summer Book

Synopsis: An elderly artist and her six-year-old grand-daughter are away on a summer together on a tiny island in the gulf of Finland. As the two learn to adjust to each other's fears, whims and yearnings, a fierce yet understated love emerges - one that encompasses not only the summer inhabitants but the very island itself. Written in a clear, unsentimental style, full of brusque humour, and wisdom, "The Summer Book" is a profoundly life-affirming story. Tove Jansson captured much of her own life and spirit in the book, which was her favourite of her adult novels. This new edition, with a Foreword by Esther Freud, sees the return of a European literary gem - fresh, authentic and deeply humane.

Review: Not a particularly good time to read this book .. I do prefer to read books in season but one glance at the foreword and I was hooked. I've not really got into Tove's writing before .. never having liked the Moomins but this is something completely different and for adults. It's a collection of short interlinked stories about six year old Sophie and her grandmother who spend their summers, along with Sophie's father, on a remote island.

Sophie is a smart little cookie and she definitely gets all her feistiness from her grandmother, they have a lovely relationship. Sophie's father is more of a shadowy figure, he's mentioned a lot but only in passing and is often off somewhere else doing necessary or exciting things. Sophie's grandmother is old, she's unsteady, she forgets things sometimes and has dizzy spells, this doesn't stop her from gadding about on her own or with Sophie exploring all the flora and fauna of the island, the skulls and bones and bogs and old roots. She's wise and unsentimental, very much talking to Sophie on equal terms and answering her interminable questions honestly and wisely. She understands that, despite Sophie's determination not to let it show, Sophie is still afraid of deep water, but she doesn't say anything about it, she just observes. She teaches Sophie about life and love and keeping imagination alive.

There are no flowery descriptions, no frills, everything is written down quite sparsely but there's also something incredibly magical about it. Grandmother carves outlandish creatures out of the dead wood in the magic forest and she and Sophie build a tiny replica Ventian city in the marsh pool. Grandmother says thing's like 'wake me up if you do anything that's fun' and 'did I ever tell you about the dead pig I found?' and 'with the best will in the world I cannot start believing in the Devil at my age' .. Sophie says 'you know, sometimes when everything's fine, I think it's just a bloody bore' and 'I hate you. With warm personal wishes. Sophie' and (to the cat) 'how many murdered today?'

I don't always like forewords in books and don't usually read them because quite often they give away too much of the plot but this one was a pleasure to read. Esther Freud, who is a huge fan of the book, goes out to the real island (that Tove spent her summers at) with Tove Jansson's niece Sophie (said to be the inspiration for the fictional Sophie) to spend a couple of days in the house that Tove built with her brother Lars back in 1947. A lot of what she finds there is instantly recognisable from the book, the woodpile, the steep stone steps, the faded blue paint etc. She decides to walk around the island and is shocked when she finds it only takes her four and a half minutes and feels a bit claustrophobic. However, after a few days of pottering about, swimming, foraging and generally enjoying the pace of island life she finds she feels more relaxed and the island seems larger somehow, she's sorry when her short visit comes to an end.

A very special read and one to treasure. I understand there is also a Winter Book which I would like to read but I don't think it's a continuation of the stories about Sophie and Grandmother.