This slim, wise masterpiece... is both unsentimental and heart-melting, and I read it every year. -- Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love * Guardian * It is like looking through clear water and seeing, suddenly, the depth ... Jansson was a writer who knew the proper magnitudes of our small worlds. -- Ali Smith The Summer Book's limpid style belies a deep psychological subtlety...Rereading it now, it feels like a survival guide. -- Melissa Harrison Tove Jansson was a genius. This is a marvellous, beautiful, wise novel, which is also very funny. -- Philip Pullman This is a wonderful, life-affirming, spirited book. Reading it was a tonic. -- Chris Stewart (author, Driving Over Lemons) It's hard to describe the astonishing achievement of Jansson's artistry . . . a perfection of the small, quiet read. -- Ali Smith * Guardian, Book of the Week * The Summer Book is a marvellously uplifting read, full of gentle humour and wisdom. -- Justine Picardie * Daily Telegraph * Eccentric, funny, wise, full of joys and small adventures. This is a book for life. -- Esther Freud A marvellous book.... The prose is sublime: plain, but not oppressively so. * Independent on Sunday * Few books since Robinson Crusoe have evoked the joys of island living so powerfully as this Finnish novella. -- Jonathan Heawood * Observer * A wonderful novel to devour in the sunshine . . . full of charm and character. -- Benedicte Page * the Independent * An odd but beautiful novel which blends humour and poetry with detailed observation of tiny things. -- Georgia Metcalfe * Daily Mail * Every so often, a book is published that captures something in us. . . . The Summer Book is one of those. -- Rachel Simhon * The Daily Telegraph *
