At The New Yorker, Sheila Heti takes a closer look at Tove Jansson, who was best known for creating Moomin, but went on to write fiction that wrestled with love and the idea of happiness. “Love, for her, is premised on a delicate balance between the reliable presence of another person and the freedom to inhabit one’s private universe,” writes Heti. “Unlike the intrusive letter writers in ‘Messages,’ who demand a presentation of the self, genuine companionship shields the self, allowing one’s interiority to deepen; this is the alchemy of true mutuality.”
