Travels in Moominland: summer in Tove Jansson’s Finland
The children’s book author spent the precious long Nordic days in simple, off-grid cabins on small dreamy islands – a tradition many Finns still followIt’s after 10pm and the sky has only just lost the high blue of the day. Sitting by the Baltic Sea, toes in the water, I gaze at distant, tree-covered islands as gentle waves lap over the long, flat rocks. I follow a rough, winding path back to my cabin, through woods so quiet you can hear the pine needles fall.I’m in Santalahti woods, near Kotka on the south-east coast of Finland, on the trail of Finnish author, novelist, painter and illustrator Tove Jansson (1914-2001). Best known as creator of the Moomins, and for her love of island living, Jansson also wrote for adults. Last year, her first novel, The Summer Book, was made into a film starring Glenn Close and directed by Charlie McDowell. One film critic has described it as “an ode to Finnish archipelago nature”. Continue reading...
The children’s book author spent the precious long Nordic days in simple, off-grid cabins on small dreamy islands – a tradition many Finns still follow
It’s after 10pm and the sky has only just lost the high blue of the day. Sitting by the Baltic Sea, toes in the water, I gaze at distant, tree-covered islands as gentle waves lap over the long, flat rocks. I follow a rough, winding path back to my cabin, through woods so quiet you can hear the pine needles fall.
I’m in Santalahti woods, near Kotka on the south-east coast of Finland, on the trail of Finnish author, novelist, painter and illustrator Tove Jansson (1914-2001). Best known as creator of the Moomins, and for her love of island living, Jansson also wrote for adults. Last year, her first novel, The Summer Book, was made into a film starring Glenn Close and directed by Charlie McDowell. One film critic has described it as “an ode to Finnish archipelago nature”. Continue reading...
