I adored this sweet , tender story that will break your heart but remind you that hearts do break, people die, and their stories have value.
Doris is a 96 year old woman reflecting on her life . As she does this she looks through her address book and writes her memories to her great grand niece, Jenny. Through these letters we learn about Doris' life and relationahips. Chapters alternate between past and present , where we see what she has been through , what she has overcome, and presently we feel her health deteriorating and how alone she is. I got so wrapped up in Doris (and her friends stories) I had to force myself to put this book down when my heart couldn't take anymore. These days a lot of books come with trigger warnings. This one has one too if you have ever lost a parent, especially if you have been through the end of life process. I have been but enough time has passed that I could read this. And I appreciate how the author isn't afraid of death. Our society has such a difficult time with death that this is an important discussion piece.
I also want to address some criticism that I've read regarding the book having elements that are too convenient. Although I can understand this, you have to ask yourself what is the purpose of this story. This isn't a thriller with too many implausible moments. This story is here to make us FEEL, to make us think have we lived enough, have we loved enough. The Red Address Book has left a lasting impression on my heart

What a well written, sensitive and beautiful book. Doris is dying and she recounts her life in a most charming manner. I loved this book and look forward to reading more from this most talented writer

What a truly moving book this is. It is so so sad, I felt every emotion possible.

🌟synopsis🌟
Doris is 96 years old and she is alone. At a young age she was forced to leave home and enter a world that was vast and scary. Throughout her lengthy life, Doris, has endured great sadness, as she captures this in her red address book. She loses family, friends and her one true love, all she lives for is the weekly Skype calls with her niece.

🌟review🌟
This was such a lovely book and the writing is wonderful.....I felt Doris’s loneliness, it tugged at my heart and made me cry, this loneliness she felt throughout her long life is palpable. It was touching and emotive and I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I loved the ending, as sad as it was.

Thank you to @netgalley for approving me to read this book, I really really enjoyed it and I give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Really enjoyed the Red Address Book!

Loved the writing style -- it was descriptive and I didn't want to put the book down. It was the perfect mix of the past and present and I loved the bond between Doris & her grand-niece Jenny.

The idea of the Address Book and crossing out the names of those who have passed is sad, but that is the reality for Doris and I loved that despite everything she''d lived through she still had the address book and some of the photos! Loved the ending and thinking about how life sometimes has little secrets.

An address book could be a trite and obvious device with which to weave together an intricate plot -- some might even say a lazy writer's cop-out. This is not the case with the Red Address book. The device is used sparingly when needed and Lundberg deftly constructs a novel that travels continents, time periods and generations with seamless ease. The story unfolds in bits that are vivid and fully realized canvases upon which the author layers more and more detail and complexity as the story continues toward it's clear conclusion. The reader; however, anxiously and urgently hopes that the truth is revealed before it's too late.

Let me start with a little backstory. I love Christmas cards. I love sending them and I love receiving them. Some are shared family updates from the past year, pictures or just a simple signature on a beautiful Christmas card. What I also love are the memories of my Mother and Grandmother pulling out their address books from the cabinet, sitting at the table and one by one addressing dozens of cards to family, friends and neighbors.
My Mom’s book was a light blue leather with two simple gold bands on the edge, while my Grandmothers was a black rectangular book thats pages were frayed and full of torn address labels that needed to be added at a later date. As I got older, I helped with the Christmas cards. My job was to address them while they wrote the cards. What seemed so innocuous at the time, as I would ask them about someone in the book, was really them sharing our family’s past with me. Both of them would tell me a story about the person while I was addressing the card. I loved to hear these stories of the special people who made it “into” my family’s books. Christmas card sending sometimes turned into a multi evening affair because of my curiosity. Sometimes there was melancholy and sadness in their voices about a relative or friend but the laughs and smiles were always greater.
As I got older lines appeared in these books. These were the lines that crossed through someone’s name. Never blacked out, only a simple line which meant that person was no longer part of the book. Sometimes it was because they drifted out of our lives, but most of the time, it was because they passed away.
Sofia Lundberg’s book, The Red Address Book, obviously resonated with me and I found it bringing back so many wonderful memories. It is the fictional story of 96-year old Doris who recalls the story of her life as she turns the pages of her red address book, a childhood gift from her father. Doris shares the memories and events that shaped her colorful life.
While Lundberg tells the story of one individual, it is really the story of so many people that shaped Doris’ life.
Doris’ life is full, rich, sad, and sometimes heart wrenching. It is a story that you will want to learn more about and anxiously await the introduction of the next person in her address book.
While I can’t relate to specifics in Doris life, I can relate to the importance of an address book.
It’s so much more than just names and addresses, it’s the story of our lives.
Ten years after her death, I still have my grandmothers and one day I will inherit my moms but I have my own now. As I fill the pages with names, I too am telling the story that on my deathbed will be my life.
I received an advance copy of this book from Netgalley. #netgalley #theredaddressbook

Have You Loved Enough?

Can you imagine being so old that nearly every one in your address book is dead? Each contact represents someone who was important to you on your life's journey, but now they are gone to their eternal rest.

Sofia Lundberg has used a very clever writing technique in The Red Address Book to tell the story of an incredible woman whose life makes an astonishing tale. Ninety-six year old Doris reminisces about her remarkable life as she browses through her address book. Lundberg takes us back and forth between the present as Doris lies on her death bed and the past as she relives her life through her minds eye.

Born in Sweden during the depression Doris' early years were not sunshine and rainbows. After her father dies she is taken out of school and sent to work as a servant for wealthy Madame Serafin who holds Art Soirees. It is during one of these Soirees that Doris meets Gosta, a homosexual artist who will become one of her dearest friends. Her tells her tales of his fabulous past life in Paris and together they dream of that fairy tale city. Surprisingly Madame Serafin decides to move to Paris and although Doris is only 13 she is taken along as a servant. After bidding a tearful farewell to her mother, who wishes her “enough”, and her little sister she travels to The City of Lights. She is soon “discovered” by a fashion designer who flatters her away from Madam Serafin to become a “living model”.

This reviewer was interested to read about the life of living models, and Lundberg embellished Doris' time in Paris with much detail, drama and several plot twists such as embracing the reappearance of her sister upon her mother death, but more importantly, finding her one great love, Allen. Their whirlwind courtship is amorous and passionate until suddenly, and without explanation Allan disappears from Doris' life. Heart break ensues, as WWII looms ominously on the horizon.

The saga continues when Doris eventually gets a well travelled letter from Allan explaining why he had to return to the States, he encloses money for her to join him. Yet by the time the two sisters arrive in New York he is married. More heartbreak. The sisters eventually end up living with a gentleman and his elderly mother. The sister marries the gentleman, dies in childbirth and Doris leaves for Europe in the hopes of reconnecting with her one great love, Allan. Has he died or been injured on the battlefields of France?

Doris' ocean crossing is horrible and reveals mankind at its worst. Eventually she is rescued, and lives for two years with a reclusive British fisherman. The next chapter in her life takes her back to Sweden where she lives with Gosta as both his friend and housekeeper.

Many years later she is on her death bed, her one big regret is that she lost Allan. Whatever happened to him? Was he killed during WWII? Was he still alive? Did he ever think of her?

Lundberg uses her incredible understanding of both the human condition and the ways of the heart to write the best book I have read all year, with the most poignant and meaningful epilogue I have even experienced. I highly recommend this book.

I received a free copy of this ebook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Nearing the end of her life, 96-year-old Doris wants to leave her memories to her grandniece and only living relative, Jenny, so they don’t die with her. She does so by reflecting back on her experiences with the people whose names are in the red address book given to her by her father when she was a child. Hers was an exciting, but not necessarily happy, life and the names of most of the people she cared about have since been crossed out in the address book and annotated as “DEAD”. Throughout her life, Doris has survived all kinds of hardships, often relying on strangers and friends to get her through the hardest times, yet she still comes across as a strong, stubborn, and resourceful woman who has retained her sense of humor and is clinging fiercely to her independence. Jenny is a less well-developed and less interesting character, but serves the purpose of moving the story forward and tying up one of the most important loose ends in Doris’s life. I thoroughly enjoyed Doris’s story and found the book hard to put down. I’m already recommending it as one to watch for.

Sofia Lundberg's ode to a life is truly worth the effort. Her clear writing, descriptiive and sympathetic, was one of the reasons to like this story. The other reason is the honest way in which she portrays the life of the protagonist, 96 year old Stockholm resident Doris. Some might fear that a book that reviews the tumultuous life of this woman in failing health would be too sad. Far from it, this book walks unflinchingly with Doris as she reflects on the full life she has lived, the people she has encountered- loved and hated--, the changes that she has endured, and finally the love that she is passing on to the one important person she still has in this world, her grandniece. Truly, when the telling is done, I missed the storyteller.

This book was so heartwarming and insightful to everlasting love and the devotio of family and friends.

First published in Swedish and later adapted to English, The Red Address Book by Sofia Lundberg is a touching story that spans generations and continents.

Are you old enough to remember paper address books? Do you remember your first one, and if so, do you still have it? A dear friend of mine who is in her mid-eighties was just telling me how sad it is to cross out the names in her paper address book as her friends and relatives pass away. Then I came across this book.

As a young girl, Doris receives a red address book from her father. Now at 96, she reflects upon her life by remembers the experiences with the people whose names are in the book and have now been crossed out upon their deaths. Doris writes her life story to share with her grand-daughter Jenny, who lives in America, but keeps in touch via weekly Skype calls.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Although some of the events in Doris's life were beyond belief, the author avoided many tropes of war-time historical fiction.

Most things these days are stored electronically. As friendships fade or loved-ones pass away, it feels wrong to just hit the delete key. After reading this book, I found my old address book reflected upon the contacts from my past and where they are today and if some have faded out of my life. I proceeded to update it and I will keep it current for my remaining (hopefully many years). This will be part of my life's story.

I received this advanced reader e-book from NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for an unbiased review.

I adored Doris! I liked that she kept records of all those people and she had such beautiful memories. I was sad that she was esstienally alone, but felt comfort in knowing she had lived such a vibrant life. Lundberg has a beautiful writing style, I had a hard time putting this one down.

I loved this book! This book tells the life story of Doris,now in her 90’s. The story switches back and forth from current time to the past. Doris wants to record the missing stories to her only living relative,her grand niece Jenny whom she helped raise and still keeps in contact with through Skype due to her being in Sweden and Jenny in the states. It is a heartwarming story of love,loss and adventure to find what her heart is yearning for. The tears flowed at the end of this book.

I stayed up late into the night because I couldn’t stop reading this novel! The careful threading of the stories from the past with the events of the present pulled me from one chapter to the next. The character development of Doris is fascinating, but the development of her grandniece’s character falls a little flat in comparison. However, Doris’ story is so compelling that I wasn’t really bothered by any issues with other characters. Beautifully crafted story!

Doris is nearing the end of her life. At 96 years old, she has had many experiences both heartwarming and heartbreaking. She is determined to record her life experiences for her great niece Jenny before she passes on. Her story is told in real time and in flashbacks as she goes from a young girl who has no particular worries to an elderly woman who must relay on the aid of home health workers to make it through the day. Throughout, Doris never loses her sense of humor or her determination. When Jenny finds out how near death her beloved Doris is, she is determined to give Doris the one thing that has been missing from her life for so many years.

This is a wonderful story of a 96 year old Doris as she remembers records her memories prompted by an old address book given to her by her father. She has written almost everyone she has ever met in this book and has decided to leave her recollections for her American niece. Doris lives in Sweden and moved there after after World War II. Most of her memories involve Allan, her first and greatest love. This is a sad story because most everyone in the book has been crossed out, dead. A tear jerker for sure. Doris is a remarkable woman who has many regrets in life. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Vested in the characters and their lives, I had trouble putting this book down. I loved how the story rocked back and forth from present to past, using the address book as a window through which to view Doris' life. It made me consider the names and stories in my own address book. How sad that in the digital age, something so tangible, that can evoke so many memories will soon be considered a relic of a bygone era. Highly recommend this read.

I received an advanced reader copy via netgalley. This is my honest review.

This was a haunting tale of lost love, intense friendships and the sometimes glamorous life of Doris, the 96 year old heroine of her own tale.

Doris' life is a back and forth tale between her present day life in Sweden, sitting in a chair in her kitchen, surrounded by memories. The only person she sees daily is the help who comes in to feed and bathe her. Her highlight is a weekly Skype with her great niece. She is writing her memoir to give to Jenny her niece. This makes it very easy for the author to flit back in time to cover Doris' life. I particularly enjoyed reading about her life.

Jenny and her family were a typical, middle class family in America and felt very one dimensional at first. As Doris grew weaker, Jenny became the object of the story and we hear about her past. I didn't really warm to Jenny and flicked through the chapters that covered her time in the apartment.

The first half of the book was definitely better than the second. Doris' life was almost up to date and I didn't care so much about Jenny and Doris' relationship. Willy - Jenny's husband- and Jenny were undeveloped and predictable. But this is a debut novel I believe so the author is still getting to grips with her writing technique. It is worth a read and I look forward to her next one.

There's was always a cloud of loneliness and tragedy hanging over Doris. It made me want to reach out to my elderly neighbours and spend more time talking to the old ladies on the bus.

This novel is written in a unique way, through Doris's narrative, and through entries in her little red address book. We move back in time to her loss of her father, her servitude in a Stockholm residence and through explorations of friends, acquaintances and others I. Her address book. The prose is lyrical and engaging, and I grew to love Doris.
Highly recommended!

I'm not usually one for stories that goes back and forth between timelines. For this one though, it worked splendidly.

Doris is 96 years old and she knows she doesn't much time left. A great-niece, Jenny, halfway across the world and an old, red address book is what's left of her life. And her memories, of course. Hoping to be able to share her story with Jenny, she spends her days writing it down, the people she met, the ones she loved in all the different way a person can love another. It's a sad story and still so easy to read.

This can be quite the eyeopener for some. How elderly people haven't always been elderly. They have lived lives some of us (if any of us) can imagine and I enjoyed following Doris's path through life, bittersweet as it was.

Thank you, Netgalley for the copy of the translated book. I enjoyed reading a Swedish author in English.
/ Denise