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The Summer Book
'When are you going to die?' 'Soon. But that is not the least concern of yours.' 🌊 A grandmother, a child and a very quiet grief.
Who it's for
The Summer Book offers grief without drama: a six-year-old whose mother has died and a grandmother near the end of her life spend summers on a tiny island, and the loss is mostly unspoken, sitting under ordinary days.
Feelings it meets
What it is
Tove Jansson's 1972 novel (English translation by Thomas Teal, 1975) follows six-year-old Sophia, her grandmother and her father as they spend a summer on a tiny island in the Gulf of Finland after the death of Sophia's mother. Each chapter is a self-contained episode, about things such as a cat, a cave, a dressing-gown or a visiting friend.
Where to find it
In print (NYRB Classics in the US; Sort of Books in the UK) and at libraries; audiobook editions exist.
Before you start
Heads up: A mother's death and an elder's frailty.
Age: Ages 12+
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.Matthew 5:4, Matthew 5:4
