The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson

A beautiful, unsettling book. It asks philosophical questions, doesn’t spoon-feed answers, and slides between an omniscient narrator and two differing first person perspectives.

There seem to be subtle truths in every paragraph.

The deceiver is yellow-eyed Katri Kling, a social outcast in an isolated hamlet who cons her way into the home and life of celebrated book illustrator Anna Aemelin. It’s a book about perception, trust, money, artistic development, manners, and the power of good adventure stories.

“Mats got first choice, and he always chose a book about the sea. When he’d read it, it went to Anna, and then they’d talk about it. It was a ritual. They said little about themselves or the things that happened around them. They spoke only about the people who lived in their books in a world of steadfast chivalry and ultimate justice.”

I read it slowly. There’s an eerie mood conjured by the text that doesn’t want rushing and there seem to be subtle truths in every paragraph.

This is the first of Jansson’s books I’ve read and I was particularly drawn to the passages which mull over artistic creation and craftsmanship. It’s a thought-provoking, curious gem and I’d like to find a copy of Fair Play and The Summer Book now. Maybe even a Moomin.

The True Deceiver was originally published in 1982 as Den ärliga bedragaren. This edition was translated from Swedish by Thomas Teal.

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The Summer Book by Tove Jansson