The narrative centers on the intimate relationship between a man and a woman deeply intertwined with politics, love, and activism. Through the lens of coffee and writing, the story unfolds the complexities of their lives, revealing a personal side to the well-known Stieg Larsson phenomenon. Eva Gabrielsson, the sole person equipped to share this story, offers an authoritative perspective on their bond and the impact of their shared passions.
There is only one person who can tell Stieg Larsson's story other than himself
- his lifelong companion and muse, Eva Gabrielsson. Here she tells the story
of their 30-year romance, of Stieg's upbringing and early years, and how this
shaped his morals and personality. She talks of his life-long struggle to
expose Sweden's Neo-Nazis, of his struggle to keep the magazine he founded,
EXPO, alive, his difficult relationships with his immediate family, and the
joy and relief he discovered writing the Millennium trilogy. Above all, this
is a love story, and shows that if there was another secret besides Larsson's
own imagination and convictions, it was his absolute love for his companion
and her nurturing of their privacy and shared passions. Their story is told as
a series of short vignettes, and Eva Gabrielsson speaks with rare candour and
dignity, inspired only by the truth as she knows it. This book is poignant in
its account of two soulmates and the life they shared, and most importantly is
deeply insightful into the man everyone wants to know better, and about whom
so little is known. I would have preferred to have never written this book.It
speaks of Stieg, of our life together, and of my life after his death, writes
Gabrielsson early in her book. It was written because she alone can tell this
story.
