The Summer Book

On a pristine island in the Gulf of Finland, six-year-old Sophia is awakening to life, while her wise yet cranky grandmother is contemplating its end. This unlikely duo becomes each other's perfect companions for a season of unforgettable adventures. From crafting boats out of bark to creating their own miniature Venice, they explore their island world with youthful curiosity and aged wisdom. Along the way, they tackle the universal questions that captivate young and old: What is life and death? What is the nature of love and God? In this enchanting tale, Jansson crafts a world that is a microcosm of life's joys and sorrows, making "The Summer Book" a season you'll never want to end. © 2024 Tove Jansson, Moomin Characters™ Published in the English language by arrangement with Rights & Brands Finnish-Swedish writer and artist Tove Jansson (1914-2001) is globally cherished for creating the Moomin universe. Born in Helsinki, her tales of the Moomins captivated readers worldwide. Beyond Moominvalley, she penned profound adult novels, most notably "The Summer Book".

On a pristine island in the Gulf of Finland, six-year-old Sophia is awakening to life, while her wise yet cranky grandmother is contemplating its end. This unlikely duo becomes each other's perfect companions for a season of unforgettable adventures. From crafting boats out of bark to creating their own miniature Venice, they explore their island world with youthful curiosity and aged wisdom. Along the way, they tackle the universal questions that captivate young and old: What is life and death? What is the nature of love and God? In this enchanting tale, Jansson crafts a world that is a microcosm of life's joys and sorrows, making "The Summer Book" a season you'll never want to end. © 2024 Tove Jansson, Moomin Characters™ Published in the English language by arrangement with Rights & Brands Finnish-Swedish writer and artist Tove Jansson (1914-2001) is globally cherished for creating the Moomin universe. Born in Helsinki, her tales of the Moomins captivated readers worldwide. Beyond Moominvalley, she penned profound adult novels, most notably "The Summer Book".

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING GLENN CLOSE Tove Jansson's classic, bestselling novel 'Distils the essence of summer' Robert Macfarlane 'Magical, life-affirming' Elizabeth Gilbert The Worldwide Classic about a tiny island and larger love. An elderly artist and her six-year-old grand-daughter while away 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. With a foreword by Esther Freud and an afterword by Sophia Jansson (on whom the child 'Sophia' is based) who returns to the island during the pandemic at the point of becoming a grandmother herself. Includes a 15pp epilogue by Tove's niece Sophia Jansson - the inspiration for 'Sophia' - on a personal and moving return to the island. 'Eccentric, funny, wise, full of joys and small adventures. This is a book for life.' Esther Freud 'Tove Jansson was a genius. This is a marvellous, beautiful, wise novel, which is also very funny.' Philip Pullman

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING GLENN CLOSE Tove Jansson's classic, bestselling novel 'Distils the essence of summer' Robert Macfarlane 'Magical, life-affirming' Elizabeth Gilbert The Worldwide Classic about a tiny island and larger love. An elderly artist and her six-year-old grand-daughter while away 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. With a foreword by Esther Freud and an afterword by Sophia Jansson (on whom the child 'Sophia' is based) who returns to the island during the pandemic at the point of becoming a grandmother herself. Includes a 15pp epilogue by Tove's niece Sophia Jansson - the inspiration for 'Sophia' - on a personal and moving return to the island. 'Eccentric, funny, wise, full of joys and small adventures. This is a book for life.' Esther Freud 'Tove Jansson was a genius. This is a marvellous, beautiful, wise novel, which is also very funny.' Philip Pullman

In The Summer Book Tove Jansson distills the essence of the summer--its sunlight and storms--into twenty-two crystalline vignettes. This brief novel tells the story of Sophia, a six-year-old girl awakening to existence, and Sophia's grandmother, nearing the end of hers, as they spend the summer on a tiny unspoiled island in the Gulf of Finland. The grandmother is unsentimental and wise, if a little cranky; Sophia is impetuous and volatile, but she tends to her grandmother with the care of a new parent. Together they amble over coastline and forest in easy companionship, build boats from bark, create a miniature Venice, write a fanciful study of local bugs. They discuss things that matter to young and old alike: life, death, the nature of God and of love. "On an island," thinks the grandmother, "everything is complete." In The Summer Book , Jansson creates her own complete world, full of the varied joys and sorrows of life. Tove Jansson, whose Moomintroll comic strip and books brought her international acclaim, lived for much of her life on an island like the one described in The Summer Book , and the work can be enjoyed as her closely observed journal of the sounds, sights, and feel of a summer spent in intimate contact with the natural world. The Summer Book is translated from the Swedish by Thomas Teal.

In The Summer Book Tove Jansson distills the essence of the summer--its sunlight and storms--into twenty-two crystalline vignettes. This brief novel tells the story of Sophia, a six-year-old girl awakening to existence, and Sophia's grandmother, nearing the end of hers, as they spend the summer on a tiny unspoiled island in the Gulf of Finland. The grandmother is unsentimental and wise, if a little cranky; Sophia is impetuous and volatile, but she tends to her grandmother with the care of a new parent. Together they amble over coastline and forest in easy companionship, build boats from bark, create a miniature Venice, write a fanciful study of local bugs. They discuss things that matter to young and old alike: life, death, the nature of God and of love. "On an island," thinks the grandmother, "everything is complete." In The Summer Book , Jansson creates her own complete world, full of the varied joys and sorrows of life. Tove Jansson, whose Moomintroll comic strip and books brought her international acclaim, lived for much of her life on an island like the one described in The Summer Book , and the work can be enjoyed as her closely observed journal of the sounds, sights, and feel of a summer spent in intimate contact with the natural world. The Summer Book is translated from the Swedish by Thomas Teal.