Conic have announced they will be releasing Charlie McDowell’s big-screen adaptation of Tove Jansson’s beloved autobiographical novel The Summer Book in UK and Ireland cinemas from 7 August.

The Summer Book follows an intergenerational family spending a transformative summer at their rustic cabin on an unspoiled, remote island in the Gulf of Finland. Starring Finnish 9-year-old Emily Matthews (in her debut acting role) as Sophia, 8-time Oscar nominee Glenn Close as her wise grandmother and Anders Danielsen Lie (The Worst Person in the World) as her grieving father, the film explores loss, nature and the delicate bonds that make up a family.

Best known as the creator of the Moomins, Tove Jansson’s 1972 book The Summer Book was inspired by over 30 summers spent on the island of Klovharun and is regarded as a classic of Nordic literature. It was Tove’s own favourite novel – and many readers feel the same. It has been an annual bestseller – each summer, without fail – since being reissued by Sort Of Books in 2003.

“I first discovered Tove Jansson’s The Summer Book when I was in my early twenties. Growing up as an avid fan of the Moomins, I was already familiar with her work, but I wasn’t familiar with any of her adult novels.” says British-American director Charlie McDowell (The One I Love). “While reading it I was immediately transported back to my childhood where I spent every summer on an island off the coast of Massachusetts. Her words allowed me to relive my own experiences with my family and deeply connect to the familiar feeling of island life in the summer. The Summer Book finds a way to tap into all your senses. For me, I could distinctly remember what a blackberry tasted like on the exact day it was ready to be picked, the smell of the air after a violent storm had just passed through, the sight of my grandmother’s hair as it curled in the humid wind when we took our small motorboat to the beach, the sound of the loud creaks in our old wooden floorboards as I tried to get to my bed without waking up my parents and what it felt like to dive into the ocean on that first day of the season. Tove’s writing is so unique and special in that way. She has a truly distinct voice and yet she still allows you to relate to her stories through your own experiences.”