By Tove Jansson and Tuulikki Pietilä
Paperback, £12.99
A short and beautiful memoir, as two women in their late 40s build their dream cabin on a remote island in the Gulf of Finland. They stayed every summer until they were less able to manage the rigorous physical work that living there required.
Luckily for us the women are life partners Tove Jansson and Tuulikki Pietilä, and so we get an evocative and often funny account from writer and artist Jansson and atmospheric island illustrations from Pietilä. Beautiful photos feature in this new paperback edition. Jansson is best known for the Moomins, as is a huge Riverside favourite for her adult novel The Summer Book, among other things.
The cabin is small and basic but requires the assistance of intriguing builder Brunström: “…who is rather small. He has an austere weather-beaten face and blue eyes. His gestures are quick but measured, and he uses no adjectives in everyday speech. His boat has no name.”
Notes from an Island is a mixture of diary entries and reflections, and transports you instantly to a remote and beautiful spot. I love the bits where Jansson’s mother stays on the island. She is in her 80s and has led an adventurous and artistic life. Finding bamboo drifting by, she immediately suggests making kites. There is also a memorable cat called Psipsina.
I think this book may also contain some of the most enjoyable shopping and packing lists anywhere. Read this book and feel the sea spray on your face.
Review by Bethan