Scandinavia on my mind

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.