Tove Jansson
The Summer Book

The Summer Book

Thanks so much for your comments in this space, particularly those on our recent post 15 backlist books that feel like summer, which reminded me this book was lingering on my TBR. This 1972 novel by Finnish author Jansson (originally written in Swedish, translated by Thomas Teal) reads almost as a series of short stories about a grandmother and her 6-year-old granddaughter spending the summer together on a tiny island in the Gulf of Finland. The pacing is gentle, the descriptions of the natural world lush and beautiful, and both the heavy and light are handled with gentleness. If you enjoy the works of L.M. Montgomery or Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gift from the Sea, this short, contemplative novel could be a good fit for your reading list.

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