In the bitter winds of autumn 1963, Tove Jansson, helped by Brunström, a maverick fisherman, raced to build a cabin on a treeless skerry in the Gulf of Finland. The island was Klovharun, and for thirty summers Tove and her beloved partner, the graphic artist, Tuulikki Pietilä, retreated there to live, paint and write, energised by the solitude and shifting seascapes.

Notes from an Island, published in English for the first time, is both a chronicle of this period and a homage to the mature love that Tove and 'Tooti' shared for their island and for each other. Tove's spare prose, and Tuulikki's subtle washes and aquatints combine to form a work of meditative beauty.

'... Tooti wandered aimlessly around the island and stood stock still for long periods. I thought I knew what she was doing.
She was working again. Copperplate etchings and wash drawings. Mostly the lagoon, the lagoon as a consummate mirror for clouds and birds, the lagoon in a storm, in fog. And the granite, first and foremost, the granite, the cliff, the rocks. It's all peace and quiet now.'

Our Booksellers Say...

"If you loved the Moomins growing up (which probably means you love them still) you will be as entranced by this book as I was. Comprised of logbook entries and paintings, it documents Tove Jansson and her partner Tuulikki Pietila's efforts to build a cabin on a tiny rocky island. This island life is unidealised, cold and difficult, but it is also filled with love, determination and a sense of belonging. A beautiful book in every way."

Emily, Bookseller (Broad Street)

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