Notes from an Island

Oh my, what a little treasure of a book! I've been a fan of Tove Jansson's Moomin stories for many years (even forgoing the more famous shops in Helsinki to search down some Moomin merch), but never knew much about her life. This short semi-diary is like the island where Jansson and her life partner lived for 20 years - spare, surprising, nothing wasted. In it we see Tove and Tooti build a tiny cabin, make friends with the birds, fish for their supper, and otherwise live a life far from the usual creature comforts (and the usual other creatures). Tove's beautiful prose is punctuated by several of Tooti's paintings, as spare and windy as the island itself.

Oh boy did I love this book, and I plan to love it again and again as it is short enough to read in a few hours. Originally this book was not available for request, but I wished for it, and Timber Press granted my request. I am so grateful to them and to NetGalley for allowing me to review this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Even at only a little over 125 pages, it's one of my best of the year so far.

Notes from an Island by Tove Jansson & Tuulikki Pietilä and narrated by Sandi Toksvig is a short read but a beautiful one. As a GenXr who was absolutely in love with the Moomins, I jumped at the chance to read this book (after listening to the audiobook) which was co-authored by the artist of one of my favourite childrens books of all time

The couple want peace and quiet, a home away from others where they can be their true selves and live their art. They are determined to build their home and while the first is overrun by curious fans, they do not lose hope and go on to try again in a harsh and unforgiving environment, but warmed by their relationship and creativity

An absolutely wonderful book and highly recommended

Thank you to Netgalley, Timber Press, the author Tove Jansson & Tuulikki Pietilä for this beautiful ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

What a beautiful lovely memoir/notes on living on an island in Northern Europe. Sprinkled with paintings, notes and an essay. Nature and humans at their best. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

This short, charming book is a largely unstructured set of reminiscences by Tove Jansson, the wonderful creator of the Moomins, about her time spent on an isolated island off of Finland with her partner, artist Tuulikki Pietilä. It isn’t a narrative but rather an ad hoc mixture of diary entries, musing, vague recollections, and anecdotes. Jansson’s spare prose conveys the wildness of the island and ocean, her joy in simple companionship, her love/hate relationship with the island, and no small amount of melancholy. Like the prints that illustrate the book, it is ill-defined but great fodder for musing and speculation.