What
links these three books: Tove Jansson's A
Winter Book, Hold Tight by
Felicity Fair Thompson and The Rough
Guide to Scandinavia? Well, one answer to that question is that I've
recently been reading all three. But, that's
a bit unfair, unless you've been sneaking around my house spying on me (and I'm
sure you're much too polite to have been doing that.) So, here's another answer...
Many
of us are keen on (not to say addicted to) dark Scandinavian thrillers – the
genre known as Scandi noir (sometimes
referred to as Nordic noir.) Even if we don't
read the books, TV dramas like The
Killing, Wallander and The Bridge,
have set a high standard for compelling storytelling, intriguing characters and
reliably fine acting and directing. But it's worth reminding ourselves that not
all Scandinavian fiction is in this genre and, equally, not all crime thrillers
are Scandinavian.
Tove
Jansson (1914-2001) is fondly remembered as the Swedish-speaking Finnish writer
and artist who created the Moomin stories, but I really enjoy her books for
adults. In the past I've read her novels The
Summer Book and Fair Play and so,
this winter, it seemed appropriate to read a collection of her short stories A Winter Book. Regular readers of this
blog will known I'm a great fan of the short story form and Jansson's are
wonderfully succinct, beguiling examples. At times she writes from the perspective
of a small child, with a partial grasp of the world around her; at other times,
her point of view is an older adult who really should know better. In my view,
they occupy an area between memoir and fiction, and between reality and dream,
edging towards magical realism but remaining grounded. The independent publisher
Sort Of Books is to be applauded for reissuing eight of Jansson's books for
adults.
I
mentioned that, just as not all Scandinavian fiction is crime, so not all crime
fiction is Scandinavian. Felicity Fair Thompson is an author based on the Isle
of Wight. I've reviewed some of her other books in this blog. Hold Tight is set in Hampshire but it's
as dark and gritty as anything coming out of Sweden or Denmark. The crime at
the heart of Hold Tight is child
abduction and its central character, WPC Jane Velalley, has to contend with
unreliable male partners and colleagues who are variously unfaithful or sexist.
The society portrayed is one that doesn't make life easy for female professionals
juggling family life and a demanding job, and a world where children are
vulnerable ... and so, perhaps, are adults. Felicity Fair Thompson shows that, whether
she's writing for adults or younger readers (as with her equally enjoyable The Kid on Slapton Beach), her narrative
style carries the reader along with her.
...
And so to the Rough Guide to Scandinavia.
Well, of course, we've been talking about Scandi noir and Tove Jansson and
I've started perusing this particular Rough Guide because we're thinking about visiting
Denmark later this year. If that seems like a bit of a tenuous link, it also
turns out that Mark Ellingham and Natania Jansz who run the aforementioned Sort
Of Books were also the founders of the Rough Guide series of travel books.
One
thing that puzzles me, though. The Rough
Guide to Scandinavia covers Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland but my
dictionary tells me Scandinavia is a cultural region consisting of Norway,
Sweden and Denmark and sometimes also
includes Iceland, Finland, and the Faroe Islands. I always assumed Finland was definitely
in Scandinavia – and Iceland too. Indeed, the famously Icelandic Bjork, in her song
Hunter, sang: " I thought I could organize freedom / How Scandinavian of me..."
Whether or not we judge Finland and Iceland as Scandinavian, I'm pretty sure we can agree that both Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are just a little too southerly to be included.
