 First edition | |
| Author | Tove Jansson |
|---|---|
| Language | Swedish |
| Genre | Autobiography |
| Publisher | Schildts & Söderströms |
| Publication date | 1968 |
| Publication place | Finland |
| Published in English | 1969 |
| Pages | 167 |
| ISBN | 9789120015569 |
The Sculptor's Daughter (Swedish: Bildhuggarens dotter) is a memoir by Tove Jansson, known for her Moomintroll books, published in Swedish in 1968. It was her first book for adults.
Synopsis
The Sculptor's Daughter gives an insight into Tove Jansson's own childhood world. It describes, in novel-like chapters, the artists' home at Skatudden in Helsinki and summer life in the archipelago. She recreates an outward bourgeois and bohemian environment that is largely dominated by her father, the sculptor Viktor Jansson. But mainly she captures the child's experience of existence – the mysterious and the magical.
Reception
Jansson's book has become one of the classic depictions of childhood in Swedish-language literature.
The smaller you are, the bigger Christmas becomes. Inside under the tree, Christmas is huge, it is a green jungle with red apples and sadly harmonious angels spinning around themselves in their sewing thread and guarding the entrance to the primeval forest. And the primeval forest continues endlessly inside the glass balls, Christmas is absolute security thanks to the tree.
— From the chapter "Christmas"
References
- Jansson, Tove (1968). The Sculptor's Daughter and the Summer Book. Albert Bonniers. ISBN 91-0-056156-8.
- Fellman, Ida. "Tove Jansson reads from The Sculptor's Daughter". YLE. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- "Tove Jansson's classic portrayal of childhood: The sculptor's daughter". Sveriges Radio. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
| Works by Tove Jansson | |
|---|---|
| Moomin series | |
| Novels | |
| Picture books | |
| Biographical | |