The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson | translated from the Swedish by Thomas Teal
Published by Sort of Books, 2009 (first published in 1982)
My rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Tove Jansson’s The True Deceiver is a deceptively simple tale that ruminates on the likes of art, community, love, and change. We follow two very different women who have both isolated themselves from society in their own ways. Katri is emotionally distant, but takes her role as guardian of her teenage brother very seriously. Anna is an artist, known for illustrating a popular series of children’s stories. The book opens with Katri vowing to initiate herself into Anna’s life – and home – by any means. It’s not a spoiler to say she makes this happen, but what ensues is a strangely understated game of cat and mouse, in which we are forced to ask who really holds the power, and who stands to gain the most from this unconventional arrangement.
The prose itself is simple, Jansson’s use of language proving very economical. That said, the Finnish landscape is evoked well, the gradual thaw from winter into spring reflective of the characters’ letting go of old habits, and their gentle opening up to new ways of thinking and living.
It’s the kind of book that provoked thought and made me feel engaged whenever I picked it up, but which left me feeling entirely apathetic by the time I reached its end. For a novel so driven by its imagery (it draws on several fairy tale motifs) and thematic ideas, I felt it lacked a certain punch, its promise of atmosphere and tension never quite reaching a fever pitch. Still, I would be open to trying more of the author’s work, and I would recommend this one to anyone intrigued by the notion of a quiet character study that explores the concept of justified lies, whilst asking us to consider which is worse: lying to others, or lying to ourselves.
***
If you’d live to give The True Deceiver a go, you can pick up a copy from Book Depository with free shipping by clicking here. If you’ve already read it, I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Let’s connect: Twitter | Goodreads | Support me on Ko-fi
Callum McLaughlin 
This doesn’t sound like a satisfactory read. I saw a great review of one of Tove Jansson’s books recently. Unfortunately, I can’t remember which one, I will try to find it. I only know Jansson from The Moomins, not sure that counts 😉
I haven’t even read the Moomins books; I was inexplicably freaked out by the TV show as a child and avoided the books as a result, haha.
Might the review have been for The Summer Book? I’ve seen a lot of praise for that one recently.
Haha, sorry The Moomins show freaked you out!
Yeah, I think you may be right about The Summer Book.
Great review! I hadn’t heard of this before – I was on the fence about whether or not it seems like something I’d enjoy, but I just pulled it up on Goodreads and there’s an NYRB edition introduced by Ali Smith. Sold.
In that case, it would be rude not to 💁🏻♂️
Nice review! This sounds like it had a lot of thematic potential, it’s too bad it didn’t pack more of a punch in the end.
Thank you! That sums up my experience with it pretty well. It’s a shame I didn’t love it as much as I hoped, but it was worth checking out, and I get why Jansson is so popular.
Pingback: The Translated Literature Book Tag – pace, amore, libri
Pingback: August Wrap Up | Women in Translation Month | Callum McLaughlin
Is this the same Tove Jansson who did the Moomin cartoons? I don’t know why that seems so weird to me but this sounds so different!
It is indeed! I felt exactly the same way when I found out she wrote for adults too 😂