Summer Book

'Rereading it now, in lockdown, this book feels like a survival guide.' Melissa Harrison, The Guardian'The Summer Book's limpid style belies a deep psychological subtlety. It's about how people can live close together for months with tact and grace, and about how rich and rewarding even a small world can be.' Melissa Harrison, The Guardian

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.

This new edition, with a Foreword by Esther Freud, sees the return of a European literary gem - fresh, authentic and deeply humane.