“There Are Things I Want You to Know” About Stieg Larsson and Me is a deeply personal memoir written by Eva Gabrielsson, the life partner of Swedish crime novelist Stieg Larsson, best known for his posthumously published Millennium trilogy. This poignant work chronicles their 32-year relationship and provides unprecedented insight into the man behind the international bestselling novels.
The memoir was published by Seven Stories Press on August 15, 2011, originally written in Swedish and translated into English by Linda Coverdale. The book emerged from diary entries that Gabrielsson wrote to cope with the grief of losing her partner, who died suddenly of a heart attack on November 9, 2004, at the age of 50.
The Title’s Origin and Significance
The book’s title comes from a deeply moving love letter that Stieg Larsson wrote to Eva Gabrielsson in 1977 when he was just 22 years old, before embarking on a dangerous trip to Africa. The letter, marked “To be opened only after my death,” was discovered by Gabrielsson among his belongings a month after his passing. In this profound document, Larsson wrote: “There are things I want you to know… I love you, I love you, I love you”. The letter reveals Larsson’s awareness of the risks he faced due to his political activism and his deep, enduring love for Gabrielsson.
The memoir is structured as a series of short, lyrical chapters presented like snapshots of their shared life. These vignettes have evocative titles ranging from “Speaking of Coffee” and “Stieg’s Journalistic Credo” to “Goodbyes” and “The Fourth Volume”. Through these chapters, Gabrielsson addresses the most pressing questions from Larsson’s readers while simultaneously telling the deeper story of love, loss, and betrayal.
Key Themes Explored
- Political Activism and Danger: The memoir details how Larsson’s crusade against Sweden’s far-right fascist movements put the couple in constant danger. Neo-Nazis left death threats on their answering machine and sent bullets through the mail, creating an atmosphere of perpetual fear.
- The Creation of Millennium: Gabrielsson reveals that the Millennium trilogy was deeply autobiographical, drawing from their shared experiences, travels, and struggles. She explains that “it was from our lives and our 32 years side by side that the books were formed”. The descriptions of Stockholm locations came directly from a manuscript she was working on, and many characters were based on real people they knew.
- Coffee Culture: One particularly charming aspect of the memoir is Gabrielsson’s discussion of their shared coffee addiction. She explains that if there was one thing Stieg Larsson and his fictional character Mikael Blomkvist had in common, it was their impressive daily quota of coffee. Both she and Larsson had been given coffee openly as children by their grandmothers, and coffee became their remedy for all kinds of misfortunes, accompanying both happy moments and long conversations.
The Estate Battle and Legal Struggles
One of the most compelling and tragic aspects of the memoir is Gabrielsson’s account of her battle with Larsson’s estranged father Erland and brother Joakim over control of his literary estate. Because Swedish law does not recognize common-law marriage and the couple had no children, Gabrielsson had no inheritance rights when Larsson died without a will.
Despite living together for three decades, Gabrielsson was completely shut out of Larsson’s estate. His father and brother, who according to Gabrielsson “were never a part of our lives,” inherited everything, including the rights to the Millennium series. The family eventually offered Gabrielsson approximately $3.3 million, but she refused, stating that it wasn’t about money but about the legal rights to administer Larsson’s literary property.
The Fourth Book Controversy
Gabrielsson possesses the laptop containing Larsson’s partially completed fourth Millennium novel. However, she has clarified that contrary to widespread reports, there is not enough material to constitute a complete novel. She estimates there are about 200 pages of material, describing it as scenes that “probably don’t hang together” because “Stieg was a spontaneous writer” who would write individual scenes without immediately connecting them.
Gabrielsson has refused to release this material unless she is granted full rights to manage the Millennium series, creating a stalemate that has lasted for years. She has stated that “lots of the thoughts and ideas that went into Millennium weren’t Stieg’s but were mine,” giving her what she considers a legitimate claim to control over the works.
Publication and Reception
The memoir was simultaneously published in France, Sweden, and Norway, with the French publisher Actes Sud holding world rights. The book became an international bestseller and was featured on major media outlets including The Today Show, Vanity Fair, The New York Times, and National Public Radio.
The English-language edition was published by Seven Stories Press in June 2011, with both hardcover and paperback versions available. The memoir has been praised for its honest portrayal of grief and its unique insight into the creative process behind one of the world’s most successful crime series.
Stieg Larsson’s Anti-Fascist Work
The memoir provides crucial context for understanding Larsson’s motivations as both a journalist and novelist. Larsson co-founded and edited the anti-racist magazine Expo in 1995, which focused on investigating nationalist, racist, anti-democratic, and far-right movements in Sweden. The magazine, similar to the British Searchlight Foundation, aimed to study and map anti-democratic tendencies in Swedish society.
Larsson’s political activism extended back to his youth when he was a member of the Swedish section of the Fourth International, the Communist Workers League. At age 20, he used his military training to travel to Eritrea in 1977, where he trained a women’s contingent of the guerrilla army. This dangerous political work created the foundation for the themes that would later appear in his novels.
Literary Inspiration and Real-Life Sources
Eva Gabrielsson reveals that virtually every detail in the Millennium trilogy had some basis in their real lives. The addresses where characters lived came from walks they took through Stockholm neighborhoods where her architectural projects were located. Real-life Swedish murders directly inspired the violent acts in the novels, with Larsson consulting police reports that entered the public domain after sentencing.
The character of Lisbeth Salander, while fictional, was partly inspired by a traumatic incident from Larsson’s youth when he witnessed the gang rape of a girl named Lisbeth and failed to intervene. This event haunted him throughout his life and motivated his lifelong commitment to fighting violence against women.
Eva Gabrielsson’s Other Works
Beyond this memoir, Gabrielsson is a accomplished author in her own right. She is the co-author of several books, including a monograph on cohabitation in Sweden, a government study on sustainable housing, and a forthcoming study on Swedish urban planner Per Olof Hallman. Her diverse body of work reflects her interests in architecture, social policy, and urban planning.
Legacy and Impact
“There Are Things I Want You to Know” About Stieg Larsson and Me serves multiple purposes: it is simultaneously a love story, a grief memoir, and a claim to literary legacy. Gabrielsson wrote it not only to process her own loss but also to answer the questions that Millennium readers had always wanted to ask about the books’ creation.
The memoir stands as one of the few detailed accounts of what happens when someone loses a life partner without legal recognition of their relationship. As Gabrielsson noted, there are very few books on this subject, citing only Joan Didion’s work and Joyce Carol Oates’ “A Widow’s Story” as comparable explorations of this type of grief.
The book ultimately reveals that the Millennium trilogy was not the product of a single genius but rather the fruit of a shared life filled with political struggle, deep love, and collaborative creativity. Through her memoir, Eva Gabrielsson ensures that her own contributions to one of the world’s most successful literary phenomena are finally recognized and remembered.