Fair play : a novel

Fair Play A novel by Tove Jansson Translated from the Swedish by Thomas Teal. INTRODUCED BY ALI SMITH “So what can happen when Tove Jansson turns her attention to her own favourite subjects, love and work, in this novel about two women, lifelong partners and friends? Expect something philosophically calm – and discreetly radical. Its publication is cause for huge celebration.” Ali Smith, from her introduction to Fair Play. The writer and artist TOVE JANSSON (1914–2001) is best known as the creator of the Moomin stories, which have been published in thirty-five languages. However, from 1968, she turned her attention to writing for adults. Fair Play was her last novel, written when she was seventy-five. Sort of Books have also published Tove Jansson’s classic The Summer Book (2003) and A Winter Book: Selected Stories (2006), which draws from five collections to present the best of her short fiction... Fair Play: novel by Tove Jansson Translated from the Swedish by Thomas Teal. INTRODUCED BY ALI SMITH'So what can happen when Tove Jansson turns her attention to her own favourite subjects, love and work, in this novel about two women, lifelong partners and friends? Expect something philosophically calm - and discreetly radical. Its publication is cause for huge celebration.'Ali Smith, from her introduction to Fair Play. The writer and artist TOVE JANSSON (1914-2001) is best known as the creator of the Moomin stories, which have been published in thirty-five languages. However, from 1968, she turned her attention to writing for adults. Fair Play was her last novel, written when she was seventy-five. Sort of Books have also published Tove Jansson's classic The Summer Book (2003) and A Winter Book: Selected Stories (2006), which draws from five collections to present the best of her short fiction. A charming, quietly radical and inspiring book, introduced by Ali Smith. First ever publication in English, in a translation by Thomas Teal. "So what can happen when Tove Jansson turns her attention to her own favourite subjects, love and work, in the form of this novel about two women, lifelong partners and friends? Expect something philosophically calm - and discreetly radical. Its publication is cause for huge celebration." Ali Smith, from her Introduction to Fair Play What mattered most to Tove Jansson, she explained in her eighties, was work and love, a sentiment she echoes in this tender and original novel. Translated for the first time into English, Fair Play portrays a love between two older women, a writer and artist, as they work side-by-side in their Helsinki studios, travel together and share summers on a remote island. In the generosity and respect they show each other and the many small shifts they make to accommodate each other's creativity we are shown a relationship both heartening and truly progressive. Winner of the 2009 Bernard Shaw Prize for Translation Fair Play is the type of love story that is rarely told, a revelatory depiction of contentment, hard-won and exhilarating. Mari is a writer and Jonna is an artist, and they live at opposite ends of a big apartment building, their studios connected by a long attic passageway. They have argued, worked, and laughed together for decades. Yet theyve never really stopped taking each other by surprise. Fair Play shows us Mari and Jonas intertwined lives as they watch Fassbinder films and Westerns, critique each others work, spend time on a solitary island (recognizable to readers of Janssons The Summer Book ), travel through the American Southwest, and turn life into nothing less than art. Portrays Love Between Two Older Women, A Writer And Artist, As They Work Side-by-side In Their Helsinki Studios, Travel Together And Share Summers On A Remote Island. Tove Jansson ; Translated From The Swedish By Thomas Teal ; Introduced By Ali Smith. Two women, both artists, live and work on opposite sides of a large apartment building. They have loved and argued for decades. Yet no matter how many times they've played the game, it is always capable of surprising them