I Ærligt spil, Tove Janssons sidste roman fra 1989, står hendes livsmotto "at arbejde og at elske" i centrum. Kunstneren Jonna og forfatteren og illustratoren Mari har været livspartnere i en lille evighed. De to kunstskabende kvinder bor dør om dør og er på mange måder hinandens modsætninger, men måske netop derfor fuldender de hinanden. I korte kapitler suges man ind i deres hverdag i atelieret, foran tv'et og ude på en lille ø i skærgården. Kunst bliver skabt, skænderier bruser op og forsoningen lyser forude, mens de to diskuterer videomennesker og havkatte, kunstnerisk praksis og muligheden for at leve et sandt liv. Ærligt spil er en smuk og livsklog kunstnerroman om ensomhed og fællesskab, kunst og liv, længslen efter glimt af lykke og trangen til at forsvinde ind i sit eget værelse. Den handler om den eventyrlige mulighed for en helt egen ensomhed i fred og forventning, som man kan tillade sig, når man er velsignet med kærlighed.
Author
Tove Jansson was born and died in Helsinki, Finland. As a Finnish citizen whose mother tongue was Swedish, she was part of the Swedish-speaking Finns minority. Thus, all her books were originally written in Swedish. Although known first and foremost as an author, Tove Jansson considered her careers as author and painter to be of equal importance. Tove Jansson wrote and illustrated her first Moomin book, The Moomins and the Great Flood (1945), during World War II. She said later that the war had depressed her, and she had wanted to write something naive and innocent. Besides the Moomin novels and short stories, Tove Jansson also wrote and illustrated four original and highly popular picture books. Jansson's Moomin books have been translated into 33 languages.
