Moominvalley in November

First edition
Author	Tove Jansson
Country	Finland
Language	Swedish
Series	Moomins
Genre	Children's novel
Publication date	1971
Preceded by	Moominpappa at Sea

Moominvalley in November (Swedish: Sent i november, 'Late in November'; Finnish: Muumilaakson marraskuu) is the ninth and final book in the Moomin series by Finnish author Tove Jansson, and was first published in both her native Swedish and English in 1971. Set contemporaneously with her previous novel Moominpappa at Sea (1965), it is the only installment in the series where the titular Moomin family are actually absent. Instead it focuses on a set of other characters, including Snufkin, who come to live at Moominhouse during the onset of winter whilst its inhabitants are away, and the various interactions which they have with each other.

Like Moominpappa at Sea, the work is more somber in tone than previous books in the series, and it has been suggested that this is a direct result of the death of Jansson's mother, Signe Hammarsten-Jansson, during the year that it was written. Because of this, it has been described as being a "textbook on letting go, being a mature orphan, existing spiritually alone" and features a young orphan looking for a mother as one of its primary characters. Following this work, Jansson later stated that she "couldn't go back and find that happy Moominvalley again" and so decided to stop writing the Moomin books.

Set in the final days of autumn and the approach of winter, various characters begin to experience a change within themselves and decide to travel to Moominvalley where they can visit the Moomins. First amongst them is Toft, a small orphan who lives alone in a docked boat under the tarpaulin, and who has often dreamed about the Moomins despite the fact that he has never met them. Secondly is Fillyjonk, a woman who is usually obsessed with everything being neat and tidy, but who has an epiphany after suffering an accident and decides to "see people. People who talked and were pleasant and went in and out and filled the whole day so that there was no time for terrible thoughts". The Hemulen similarly begins to question his lifestyle, realising that his life as a collector and organiser of things simply isn't necessary, whilst a senile old man who cannot remember his own name but who calls himself Grandpa-Grumble decides to go to the "Happy Valley" that he remembers from the past. Alongside these figures, Mymble also decides to visit the Moomins in order to see her younger sister Little My whom they have adopted, and Snufkin also returns, realising that the valley is the place where he can gain inspiration to write a song.