Notes from an Island

Praise for the essay, “The Island”

“At once a short story, an essay, and a prose poem, ‘The Island’ reads both like a sketch for The Summer Book and a vignette of Klovharun … the text seems to change following mysterious tides from a timeless present to an urgent past.” —Hernan Diaz, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize

Praise for Tove Jansson

"It could be said that everything she wrote is, in one way or another, about the creative interactions between art and reality or art and nature."—The Guardian

"Her style is not at all 'poetic'—quite the contrary. It is prose of the very highest order; it is pure prose. Through its quiet clarity we see unreachable depths, threatening darkness, promised treasures."—Ursula K. LeGuin, The Guardian

“Tove Jansson was a genius, a woman of profound wisdom and great artistry.”—Philip Pullman

“It’s hard to describe the astonishing achievement of Jansson’s artistry.”—Ali Smith

• "If you never see me again in life after this book is published, it is because I left to find an island of my own at last."
  Alexander Chee, author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel
• “Both a memoir and a love letter to all things wild and weathered.”
  New Statesman
• “These wry, winsome autobiographical sketches demonstrate the couple’s virtuosity in the art of living...as evocative as a long-lost coastline glimpsed through mist.” 
  Times Literary Supplement
• “A pleasure for Jansson’s many fans, and a lovely memoir of hardscrabble island life.” 
  Kirkus
• "This elegantly produced book began as a collection of etchings and drawings done by Pietilä, accompanied now by the diary entries, notes, and correspondence the author…Jansson brings to life the flora and fauna of their remote home, along with the struggles of living in such an enchanted but storm-battered and fog-enshrouded place. Notes from an Island is a gem." 
  Air Mail
• “Like the books featuring her beloved Moomins, the nature journal Notes from an Island by Tove Jansson moves fluidly between modes, alternating between tones of detached humor and earnest poignancy. This beautiful volume represents the most transparent collaboration between Jansson…and her partner in life and art, Tuulikki Pietilä”
  Shelf Awareness