Read Women discussion

Welcome to our April 2022 women-in-translation fiction read The True Deceiver by Finnish author and artist, Tove Jansson. Jansson also created the cover art for the NYRB edition, with the introduction by Ali Smith. It was first published in 1982, in Swedish. In 2011, it won the Best Translated Book Award, and is translated by Thomas Teal.

Tove Jansson

The Wiki on Jansson is truly the best resource for a full picture of her life, varied interests, creative works, etc. In addition to the Moomin books she wrote for children, she wrote 6 novels - including True Deceiver - and 5 short story collections intended for adult readers.

In 1956 Jansson met her lifelong partner, Tuulikki Pietilä – or "Tooti", as she was known. In Helsinki they lived separately, in neighbouring blocks, visiting each other privately through an attic passageway. In the 1960s, they built a house on a tiny uninhabited island in the Gulf of Finland, 100 kilometres from Helsinki, where they would escape for the summer months.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tove_Ja...

Her website is absolutely gorgeous, from a design standpoint.
https://tovejansson.com/

Consider checking out this gem from 2021. It is focused on her art, and is just a lovely read from start to finish.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...

The True Deceiver

The True Deceiver takes place in an unidentified Scandinavian village in the winter and is mighty unsettling. It's key two characters are women over 40: Anna Aemalin, a successful illustrator of children's books, and Katri, whom I am unable to describe objectively. Its secondary characters are authentic and essential. Mats, Katri's younger (adult) brother. Katri's unnamed dog. Liljeberg the boat-builder, and his several brothers. Madame Nygard, the storekeeper.

A 2009 review by Ursula K. Le Guin, published in The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/books/200...

I'm on page 45 of 181 in the NYRB edition, and am finding quotes on every page that make me linger. Feel free to share thoughts and questions as you go, or wait until you're finished, if you prefer.

Who plans to join? Have you read any of Jansson's novels previously? What draws you to her or, if you're not a fan, why?

So I'm approximately 25% of the way in to The True Deceiver and two things are on my mind. First, the majority of Finnish novels I've read may have a killer or domestic abuser lurking, but overall the villages presented have a strong sense of community, shared history, a prevailing sense of safety preserved intentionally by their inhabitants. This village has none of that aura of safety. There's a great deal of shared history, but Jansson paints a picture of a set of individuals living adjacent to one another, as opposed to individuals who have a strong sense of being stronger together, or having a collective purpose. Second, I find myself almost paralyzed with suspense because I am worried for multiple characters. Mats? It's not clear to if he's quirky or suffering from a mental disability, but he's vulnerable if someone were to desire to mess with him. The unnamed dog? I'm always worried about pets in novels, and I don't trust Katri any more than the rest. Anna? She's the obvious one to worry for, based on what I've read, but Jansson appears to be leaning on displaying Anna's vulnerabilities so intentionally that I feel a twist coming. (view spoiler)[The scene early on where Katri declines the offer of coffee? Bordering on the creepy, but mostly because Anna appears to be so thrown by Katri's willingness to act outside of social norms. Without the horror movie music I heard in my head, this scene isn't necessarily as dramatic as it seems in the moment. (hide spoiler)]

I am looking forward to finding out what Jansson does with these characters.

Is anyone planning to join the discussion this month?

I finished the book last week and am re-reading it, hoping others will join in. I enjoyed it very much. It had the feeling of a Hitchcock drama.
I thought Katri was a complex character. She is trusted by her neighbors and they consult her for advice so you think she is a very confident character yet she seems pretty insecure. When she sees Mats spending time with Anna reading and discussing their books, she's jealous so you expect her to do something underhanded.
I thought the same about Anna. She comes off as being mild-mannered, unable to stand up for herself like she is agoraphobic but she is not so oblivious that she cannot see what Katri is doing.
I took the unnamed dog to be a personification of Katri. On guard, untrusting of anyone but its master (view spoiler)[ until Anna earns its trust. In the end, the question is who is the True Deceiver? (hide spoiler)]
I had never heard of Tove Jansson and Moomistrolls before this. I found myself going through lots of online info and videos about her as well as the links Carol provided. (thanks Carol!)
I think I will definitely pick up The Summer Bookk and her short story collection A Winter Book

I read this last month.
It's a very unusual novel with a haunting atmosphere that leaves one with more questions than answers. The constant shifts in point of view and the verbal jousting between Katri and Anna are unnerving--probably, intentionally so. The atmosphere of simmering tension that permeates the novel was a bit unsettling.

I´ll join in soon, hopefully. Got the German translation from my library.

Sophie wrote: "I finished the book last week and am re-reading it, hoping others will join in. I enjoyed it very much. It had the feeling of a Hitchcock drama.
I thought Katri was a complex character. She is trus..."

I highly recommend The Summer Book. It's 200% nothing like this one, except in her prose style.

I appreciate your comments - am curious why you chose to immediately re-read it. Was it a desire to better understand the characters without the tension of, "where is this going?" impeding your initial read, or something else entirely?

Tamara wrote: "I read this last month.
It's a very unusual novel with a haunting atmosphere that leaves one with more questions than answers. The constant shifts in point of view and the verbal jousting between ..."

It was, indeed. I was surprised that all of this connivery was solely in service to (view spoiler)[getting Mats a boat; and I say this as a boat-loving person. where will funds come from to maintain it? I thought Katri had in mind teeing herself up as a beneficiary in Anna's will, or at least some long-term security, but the contracts she's weighing in on may turn into a mere trickle of funds within 2 - 5 years, and the rabbit house offers no more financial security than a run-down 1904 Victorian in a small town in upstate NY (none, for those spared the knowledge). This -- all of this planning, manipulating, moving in with her target, the relentless badgering - was all about ... a boat? (hide spoiler)]

Michaela wrote: "I´ll join in soon, hopefully. Got the German translation from my library."

Michaela, I really look forward to hearing your thoughts when you get to it.

I'm finished and have a long list of things I'm confused about. I've used spoiler tags for several, since it's only the 4th of the month. But:

1. I am befuddled by the entire story line involving Katri's unnamed dog. I didn't get his purpose in the beginning. I didn't get Anna's purpose in forcing, surreptitiously, him to play fetch. (Something I've not ever in real life seen work, btw. If a dog doesn't want to retrieve, good effin' luck with your determination to have him retrieve.) And the end of his story arc. I read carefully all of the discourse about obedience and one's purpose, and still threw up my hands in expletives.

2. Several professional reviewers refer to Anna as "elderly," and seem to imagine Katri as a woman in her 40s and Anna as over 70, perhaps. I didn't see anything in the story that framed Anna by age, other than her parents have been dead for some time. Katri's and Mats' ages are similarly obscured. I understand that Jansson was 68 when TTD was published, but she isn't her characters, and my take is that readers are projecting when they focus on each characters' age and not their conduct, their philosophy, their response to their circumstances.

3. Similarly, I don't agree with the frequent (pro reviewer) characterization of Katri as "honest" or "truthful," per se. Her perspective isn't any more honest for its negativity and assumptions about others' motives. She is over-confident in her analysis of everyone's motives and her philosophy that each man is out for himself at the expense of his neighbors contributes to an environment where everyone in the village feels more lonely and isolated than they might otherwise feel. Fees charged and paid can arise from errors in estimation, in transcription, from habits (I've always charged X for Y) and not from a desire to get one over on neighbor by inflating prices, or cheating in calculations. Suspicious and judgmental aren't the equivalent of "honest."

Tamara wrote: "I read this last month.
It's a very unusual novel with a haunting atmosphere that leaves one with more questions than answers. The constant shifts in point of view and the verbal jousting between ..."
That is what I enjoyed about the book the most, the tone, the mood.

Carol wrote: "I appreciate your comments - am curious why you chose to immediately re-read it. Was it a desire to better understand the characters without the tension of, "where is this going?" impeding your initial read, or something else entirely?" Yes, Carol, when I initially read it I think I was more focused on the surroundings and anticipation of something dramatic to happen. I want to go back and see if my impressions of Katri change with a revisit. (I haven't really picked it right back up but have read something else in between as a refresh.)

Sophie wrote: "Carol wrote: "I appreciate your comments - am curious why you chose to immediately re-read it. Was it a desire to better understand the characters without the tension of, "where is this going?" imp..."

I agree, I'd like to experience it without being (a) caught up in trying to figure out Katri's end-game, and (b) so worried about (view spoiler)[the dog, not that his outcome is certain, but it's not definitively bad, on paper. You see how I had to twist myself into not crying over the dog. (hide spoiler)]

Carol wrote: "I agree, I'd like to experience it without being (a) caught up in trying to figure out Katri's end-game, and (b) so worried about [the dog, not that his outcome is certain, but it's not definitively bad, on paper. You see how I had to twist myself into not crying over the dog." My thought was that Katri did not want to consider the dog as a companion so she did not give him a name. Maybe she just wanted him as a prop for the villagers to be wary of her.
off-topic: we had a pup who loved to fetch soo much he would exhaust himself bringing back a tennis ball shot far away with a racket over and over again. But he would make sure that he chewed and slobbered on it effusively before he would plop it at our feet.

Sophie wrote: "Carol wrote: "I agree, I'd like to experience it without being (a) caught up in trying to figure out Katri's end-game, and (b) so worried about [the dog, not that his outcome is certain, but it's n..."

I love that. We're on our 4th golden retriever who has no interest in the "giving it back" aspect of retrieving. None. We can throw as much as we like, and they lie down and enjoy keeping it.

I just started last night, so only a few chapters in. Funnily, with the town's borderline hostile view of Katri, I imagine her as a step away from being shunned like Merricat from We Have Always Lived in the Castle. If she was less feared, and had less backbone, perhaps she'd be like Merricat. Or maybe Matz is, but I haven't read much about him yet. For some reason I thought Katri was just about 24 or 25, so I'll have to skim back and see about their ages...

I finished this rather quickly, but couldn´t really make much out of it. It´s definitely well written, but too dark for my taste and not really understandable.
I had heard of the Moomins before and by chance read the first book in this series in another group last month. I knew nothing about Jansson though.

Anita wrote: "I just started last night, so only a few chapters in. Funnily, with the town's borderline hostile view of Katri, I imagine her as a step away from being shunned like Merricat from We Have Always Li..."

it's odd because, at the same time, we're repeatedly told early on that everyone has so much respect for her judgment and math skills. It seems less like shunning and more like, with all of their respect, no one wants to hang out with her because she's so uninterested in building any relationships or socializing for its own sake. It's as if her company is a weighty thing for anyone to absorb.

Michaela wrote: "I finished this rather quickly, but couldn´t really make much out of it. It´s definitely well written, but too dark for my taste and not really understandable.
I had heard of the Moomins before and..."

did you like the Moomins book, Michaela? I've never encountered one so have wondered.

Carol wrote: "Anita wrote: "I just started last night, so only a few chapters in. Funnily, with the town's borderline hostile view of Katri, I imagine her as a step away from being shunned like Merricat from We ..."

Exactly, she isn't shunned by the townfolk, but I definitely feel like they're on the cusp. I'm catching some offhand hostility about their (katri and mats') parentage. I've reached the point where they move - I'm being vague since I don't want to spoil anything - and am also beginning to understand that perhaps Anna is suffering from early stages of dementia or something? I also re-read the beginning that says Mats is a boy of 15 and Katri is ten years his senior. Definitely obsessing over what Katri's end game is. She seems to have very strong feelings about getting Mats what he deserves, and the move helped her achieve something of the sort, as it mentions Anna's book collection being outstanding, and getting Mats access to books is difficult.

Anita wrote: "Definitely obsessing over what Katri's end game is. She seems to have very strong feelings about getting Mats what he deserves, and the move helped her achieve something of the sort, as it mentions Anna's book collection being outstanding, and getting Mats access to books is difficult."
That is the part that had me on the edge of my seat Anita.
(And the part about the storekeeper lurking outside Katri's door.)

Carol wrote: "Michaela wrote: "I finished this rather quickly, but couldn´t really make much out of it. It´s definitely well written, but too dark for my taste and not really understandable.
I had heard of the M..."

Not necessarily to my taste either, esp. as it´s supposed to be written for children. Also 3 stars. I read the first in the series, but the introduction of the characters is in a later book.

Anita wrote: "Carol wrote: "Anita wrote: "I just started last night, so only a few chapters in. Funnily, with the town's borderline hostile view of Katri, I imagine her as a step away from being shunned like Mer..."

Great catch on their ages. Mats didn't strike me as being that young, in terms of his communication style, etc. That's so interesting.

I am hoping we can discuss Anna at length.

Which invites the question, who is the "true" deceiver? Who is being deceived?

Michaela wrote: "Carol wrote: "Michaela wrote: "I finished this rather quickly, but couldn´t really make much out of it. It´s definitely well written, but too dark for my taste and not really understandable.
I had ..."

Ah, very helpful. I'm not generally a big fan of book 1 in most series, so will bear in mind if I tackle it that I buy the "right" entry point.

I came across the work of Tove Jansson in 2013, after reading the work of an English poet who was inspired by the Arctic and snowy landscapes.

Though I heard then she was well known for her children's books, I hadn't heard of them either.

The publisher Sort Of Books (who also publish Scottish nature writer Kathleen Jamie) reprinted both A Winter Book and The Summer Book (originally published in 1972) and they both really appealed, so that's where I began, reading them in their respective seasons and loved them both. They are fiction, but read like creative nonfiction and were clearly inspired by her life and the island where she spent all her summers.

I was intrigued that she had also written an adult novel, but you could say I came to it with an open mind, but not with high expectations as writing about the natural world and the human finding their place within it, did seem to me to be a niche she had well established.

So I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed The True Deceiver, but in the same way that having read Sara Baume's work of nonfiction Handiwork, before reading her novels Spill Simmer Falter Wither and A Line Made by Walking - I felt the presence of the author throughout and couldn't help but see much of her in the main character.

So I'm definitely a fan, as much of her artistic talent, her unique perspective and eccentric personality, as her writing and island lifestyle.

My review of The True Deceiver : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

My review of A Winter Book : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

My review of The Summer Book: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

My review of Art in Nature : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I finished last night, and I also actually really enjoyed it, although I was surprised when I turned the last page and it was done.

I have to agree, Carol, that their ages didn't quite match up with their personalities imo either, but they were both (mats and katri) such unique personalities anyways.

Anita wrote: "I finished last night, and I also actually really enjoyed it, although I was surprised when I turned the last page and it was done.

I have to agree, Carol, that their ages didn't quite match up wi..."

They were!

@claire - thanks for sharing your reviews of several Jansson books. (also, I love your blog.) I found the section of TD focused on Anna's responses to reader letters and the tension between finishing an endless, burdensome task without pouring so much of one's heart and soul into each personalized letter to be fascinating in its transparency. As if Jansson decided the gloves were off and, yes, she was using her characters to express her own ambivalence as an artist with fans. I'll indulge her anything, whilst I laugh.