Dear Summer Bookers,
I’m looking forward to reading Tove Jansson’s The Summer Book together. We’re going to start next week on Friday 8th August. All the details are here.
First, though, here is a little about Jansson’s life.
Tove Jansson was born in Helsinki in 1914. Her parents, the sculptor Viktor Jansson and the graphic designer Signe Hammarsten-Jansson, were part of the Swedish-speaking community in Finland, still part of the Russian Empire at that time. The family lived in Helsinki and spent their summers on an island in the Gulf of Finland.
Jansson wrote and illustrated her first picture book at the age of fourteen. She studied at art schools in Stockholm, Helsinki and Paris, writing short stories and drawing illustrations for book covers, advertisements and the satirical magazine Garm. Her first solo exhibition was held in 1943.
Jansson wrote and illustrated The Moomins and the Great Flood, her first novel for children, in 1945. The story about little Moomintroll and his Moominmamma did not sell well initially, but its extremely popular sequels Comet in Moominland (1946) and Finn Family Moomintroll (1948) introduced a wider cast of characters, including Moominpappa, Snufkin and the Snork Maiden, and swiftly transformed Jansson’s career.
Jansson went on to write ten Moomin novels and a volume of Moomin short stories, as well as picture books and comic strips. Today they are beloved around the world and have inspired a merchandise empire.
The first seven Moomin books, up to Moominsummer Madness (1955), are adventure stories. The last four – Moominland Midwinter (1957), Tales from Moominvalley (1962), Moominpappa at Sea (1965) and Moominvalley in November (1970) – are darker and more serious. They express, as Jansson put it, ‘what it is like when things get difficult’.
In 1956 Jansson met her life partner, Tuulikki Pietilä, known as ‘Tooti’, who inspired the character ‘Too-ticky’. They kept their same-sex relationship private but remained together for the rest of Jansson’s life. They built a house and spent their summers on Klovharu, a small island in the Gulf of Finland.
After Moominvalley in November, Jansson felt she ‘couldn’t go back and find that happy Moominvalley again’ so she stopped writing Moomin books and began writing for adults. She had written a semi-autobiographical book of stories, Sculptor’s Daughter, in 1968, and four more story collections followed as well as five novels, of which the best known is The Summer Book (1972).
After her beloved mother died in 1970, Jansson spent most of her time on Klovharu. As a children’s author she was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1966 – and in 1992 she was awarded the prestigious Selma Lagerlöf Prize. She died in June 2001 at the age of 86.
I look forward to reading her joyous Summer Book with you, starting next Friday.
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I snagged The Summer Book from my library and couldn't wait to read it. Finished it in one night - it was glorious and sad and yes, I did cry. Never heard of it before and I thank you for bringing it to my attention.
I just signed up to be a paid subscriber because I enjoy your insights, Henry, and have been enjoying reading along with you (Mrs Dalloway & Robinson Crusoe). Thank you for your work!