From the Bookshelf of Never too Late to Read Classics…

The Summer Book

Tove Jansson,

Esther Freud (Contributor)

Start date: July 1, 2020

Finish date: July 31, 2020

Discussion: Authors From Around the World

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What Members Thought

Feb 24, 2011 Laura rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: nyrb-classics, scandinavian-literature, bookmooch, novellas, 1001-books-you-must-read-before-you, read-2011, fiction

Just arrived from UK and it was kindly sent by H. Turner. Not so great as I expected.

4 likes · Like · see review

Jan 27, 2015 Karen rated it really liked it

Shelves: travel-the-world

Tove Jansson created this wonderful sense of place with The Summer Book. Every summer Sophia and her family go to their Island in the Gulf of Finland, only this summer, her mother is not with them, because she has died. Grandmother and granddaughter are at the center of this story. Their relationship is beautiful and raw. They learn from one another, from the ebb and flow of the Island, and from the sea.

1 like · Like · see review

Jul 12, 2018 Helena rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018-reads

The book is about Sophia and her paternal grandmother and the summers when they live in a summer house somewhere in the Finnish archipelago. Sophia lost her mother when very young, and the father is very distant, so the grandmother and Sophia develop a very special relationship. It’s characterized by honesty, sometimes a harsh one, but respectful. Sophia takes it for granted she can say what’s on her mind and how she feels without question, and she expects her grandmother to do the same. There i ...more

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