The Summer Book

The Summer Book by Tove Jansson, more famous perhaps for the Moomin stories, is one of her adult novels and is held to be a classic of modern literature in her native Finland.

Set on a small island in the Gulf of Finland, this episodic novel tells of the relationship between a Grandmother and her six year old granddaughter, Sophia. It's a heartwarming, at times funny tale of two people over a summer talking about nature, life, love and loss.

It's short, easy to read, pleasant book but if not call it a modern classic. Moominpapa at Sea was far more profound.

I read Fair Play last year and adored it so wanted to read more Jansson. This wasn't quite as good for me, but was still really charming. Sophia was a bit obnoxious, but she is a kid, and I loved Grandmother. The little vignettes were sweet and made me want to live on an island off Finland. The one where Sophia is dictating her book was so relatable - my son has been dictating poems to me recently. I'm glad I read this and will continue to read more Jansson.

I read this book for a book club I got in (Laufey's BookClub), and overall I really enjoyed this book. I think I should reread the last couple of chapters since I read them on a ride back home late at night, and I was very tired. My favorite chapters were The Cat and The Tent. It didn't have an overarching plot and loads of description, so I struggled a little bit, but the characters warmed up to me. I see a lot of myself when I was young in Sophia, especially her curiosity. The grandmother had a lot of similar traits to my grandmother, and I can imagine us both having similar conversations like the one's grandmother and Sophia had. I'll definitely share this book with her.