The True Deceiver
By Tove Jansson
Translated by Thomas Teal
Sort Of Books £7.99, 201 pages
FT Bookshop price: £6.39

Best known for her Moomin series of children’s books, Tove Jansson spent her last three decades writing for adults. Since the 2003 UK re-publication of her magical The Summer Book, the Finnish writer’s reputation has soared in the UK; The True Deceiver will only enhance it further.

In a snowbound seaside hamlet, wolf-life Katri is feared and respected for always speaking the truth, however unpalatable it is. Meanwhile, Anna, an elderly children’s author, softens her depictions of the forest by drawing flower-covered rabbits. When the younger woman sets her heart on moving into Anna’s house, something has to give. From this clash, Jansson crafts an unsentimental – often mischievous – novel of ideas that asks whether it is better to be kind than to be truthful, especially for an artist. Ali Smith’s excellent introduction expresses shock and delight that there is still fiction by Jansson untranslated into English. After reading this gem, who could disagree?