Rights & Brands Podcast episode 3: Rights and Brands special podcast episode features literary gem The Summer Book

07 Aug 2020

In this special episode in honor of Tove Jansson’s birthday and her first official flag in Finland that will be celebrated on August 9th, agent Leenastiina Kakko’s sits down for a delightful chat with Tove Jansson’s niece and Creative Director of Moomin Characters Ltd, Sophia Jansson.

Tove Jansson is one of Scandinavia’s beloved authors today. In addition to the world fame Moomin books Tove Jansson also wrote several classic novels and short stories from the 1970’s onwards which have been translated into several languages. The Summer Book is a literary gem which has touched many as it has fans from all corners of the world. It is a must summer read to many book lovers. The book is available in several languages, and the most recent translation is in Vietnamese for the first time. Also, a Thai edition will be out soon.

The Summer Book is described as “the relationship between someone very old and someone very young, a mutual disregard but very great respect and friendship”, which is spot on. The beloved classic about an elderly artist and her six-year-old grand-daughter who spend a summer together on a small island in the Gulf of Finland is a warm, life-affirming book filled with wonderfully sharp humor and wisdom throughout the book. There is also much not written out but left unsaid for the reader to discover. As Sophia says, “It is in way a very timeless story…What is not written out, but you have to fill-in between the lines is one of the things that Tove does so very well.”

Sophia and Leenastiina talk about the book and the reasons behind the it’s everlasting success, Sophia reveals her favorite part of the book and shares her own island memories. Sophia also shares her thoughts on the upcoming biopic Tove film that will be released later in the fall.

Tune in here!

Rights and Brands podcast features insightful talks with Nordic authors represented by Rights and Brands. Together with their agent Leenastiina Kakko guest authors chat about their books, reveal the stories and inspiration behind them and everything in between. If you are intrigued to hear more and discover the interesting voices in Nordic literature this is the podcast for you. The podcast is available at AcastSpotifyGoogle Podcasts and iTunes.