Letters from Klara by Tove Jansson

Remember the Moomin stories? They were written by Tove Jansson, who also wrote for adults. This collection of short stories has been published in English for the first time. They are very different from traditional short stories, in that whilst perfectly crafted they hint at ideas and themes through the characters, and the situations they find themselves in.

The title story was may favourite. It is told through a series of one sided letters, we only get to see what Klara writes, to a range of friends and acquaintances. She hands out advice, spiked comments and thoughts on life to her correspondents. Only having one half of the conversation is interesting, leaving the reader to fill in the blanks.

There is little in the way of a theme running through this collection, but each story will make you think and consider what is happening. I loved this as Jansson assumes her readers are intelligent and can layer their own experiences and understanding of character on her own very sparse, but perfectly crafted words.