a nutshell: on a small island in the Gulf of Finland, a six-year-old girl Sophia and her grandma amble through summer in 22 scenes crystallising the ebb and flow of life
a line: “‘I hate you. With warm personal wishes, Sophia.’ All the words were correctly spelled.”
an image: in ‘The Cat’, Sophia’s wrestling with the emotional turmoil of an adopted animal that doesn’t want her affection is absolute perfection
a thought: a small, mighty book – tardis-like in its power to transport you back to a place of secluded bliss, stringing together pearls of childhood wonder & fury
a fact: Jansson wrote the book in 1972 after the death of her mother, who successfully campaigned for the right of Swedish girls to sleep outside in tents (subtly alluded to in the book)
want to read The Summer Book? visit here
reading women worldwide 
I have had a terrible low few months very bleak and dark. I read and loved Tove Jansson as a child, and was delighted to discover only now her ‘grown-up’ novels. I read this remarkable book four times in a row, I’ve never done that even twice before, yes I’ve re-read books, but never ending the final page and simply turning back to page one again. I love your review summing it up perfectly, and I too have written a rather fanciful review too, in case you are interested. https://deaddeerblog.wordpress.com/2018/10/14/the-summer-book/ Thank you
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Books are so powerful in how they can transport you to different places like that! Thank you – I’m reading your review now 🙂
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Thank you for reading. That one means a lot to me.
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