Armchair Book Review: There Are Things I Want You To Know About Stieg Larsson and Me

"There Are Things I Want You to Know" About Stieg Larsson and Me
Written by Eva Gabrielsson
Contribution by Marie-Francoise Colombani
Translated by Linda Coverdale
Trade Paperback, 224 pages

also available as a hardcover and ebook

Millions of us were instant fans of the Millennium Trilogy, Stieg Larsson's three epic crime novels from Sweden; The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. 

Many of us also know that Stieg Larsson died soon after delivering his manuscripts to his publisher.

Most of us don't know much more about him than that.

"There Are Things I Want You to Know" About Stieg Larsson and Me is written by his long-term companion and (in North American parlance) common-law wife, Eva Gabrielsson.

Devastated by her partner's sudden death, and delivered a second blow from the Swedish government by not qualifying as legal wife and therefore left penniless by his estate, Eva did what she does best. She fought back.

In this book Eva shares her early life with Stieg, a couple of revolutionaries who wanted to change the world, or at least make it a better place for the oppressed and depressed. They gave all of their time and energy to fighting battles for the marginalized, all over the world. They spent over thirty years together, side by side and relatively poor, but happy. Money was never a big subject as they never had a lot and shared what they did have with those who needed it more. Certainly they never expected to have fortune come their way, and they never prepared for it. Eva faced homelessness when Stieg died, just when his books were at their peak of popularity.

Eva shares her struggles, but she also shares an intimate look into Stieg's early years. She writes about the sources and inspirations for the books, people and places that Stieg had known in his life. A fascinating look at the seeds of the Millennium Trilogy.

At times angry, sentimental, hopeful, and despairing, "There Are Things I Want You to Know" About Stieg Larsson and Me is a raw and intimate look into the life and death of the man behind the books and the woman he left behind.