Cover Image: The Red Address Book

The Red Address Book

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

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.

Was this review helpful?

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.

Was this review helpful?

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.

Was this review helpful?

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!

Was this review helpful?

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.

Was this review helpful?

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.

Was this review helpful?

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.

Was this review helpful?

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.

Was this review helpful?

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!

Was this review helpful?

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

Was this review helpful?

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely love this novel. Doris's life is both glamorous and tragic. Her relationship with Jenny is beautiful and precious.

Was this review helpful?

This is a wonderful book. Ninety-six year old Doris is a beautifully drawn character and her life story is so poignant and believable. Above all, the author shows us the importance of story-telling and the part it plays in passing down one's family history to the next generation. I could not put this book down.

Was this review helpful?

After a bit of a slow start, I was totally absorbed in Doris’ story. Doris is in her nineties, reflecting back on her life. Writing notes for Jenny, her niece, each chapter details the loves and losses in a life lived in Stockholm, Paris, and more. Doris has one true love that will stay with her all her life, and Jenny tries to find out more about him. I cannot explain the emotions experienced while reading this well crafted novel. Recommended.

Was this review helpful?

The Red Address Book is the life story about Doris, a 96 year old Swedish woman who is nearing the end of her life. She wants to document her journey for her only relative, Jenny. She does this by telling the stories about important people in her life that are listed in her address book. She tells her story chronologically so that it is easy to follow as she jumps into the past from the present. The present day story was a bit heartbreaking. It is hard to imagine that much pain in your body and not being able to do things for yourself. It also makes you stop and think what goes on in somebody's mind when they reach an age when everyone they know has died and the regrets that you could have in life. I really enjoyed this book for the story and all of the thinking that happens after you finish it.

Was this review helpful?

I read The Red Address Book in just a few days. I enjoyed the structure of the book, which was an elderly woman dealing with her present day health struggles and telling the story of her life. I wanted to know what had happened to Doris, and expected more. Maybe I expected a twist or two because so many recent books have featured them. I didn't completely root for Doris because of two particular choices she made. I found her hard to like and empathise with. I don't want to include spoilers, so I will leave it vague. I recently read The Generation Game by Sophie Duffy, which had a similar plot structure. I absolutely loved that story. I didn't feel the same about this one. After reading it I kind of felt "that's it?"

Was this review helpful?

A charming novel about life that I really feel in love with. I would recommend this to any historical fiction fans, it is character driven and a good read.

Was this review helpful?

The book tells the story of an elderly woman named Doris, alternating between chapters narrating the present day in third person and chapters where Doris is using her longtime address book as inspiration to write her life story to give to her great-niece. It is lovely in many way, but too melancholy for my taste.

Was this review helpful?

3.5 stars

The Red Address Book is a charming, but very sad tale about Doris, a lonely 96-year-old woman who lives in Stockholm. She reminisces about her life and those individuals she encountered as she pages through an old address book she received from her father when she was young. Few of her friends and acquaintances remain, and Doris leads a solitary life except for her weekly Skype with her American niece Jenny. While I enjoyed some aspects of Doris’s long and eventful life, the story is so sad. I received this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Was this review helpful?

I fell in love with Doris Alm, and loved reading her story, told in a beautiful and unique way by recalling her relationships with the people listed in her red address book. I was enchanted by the story, and loved reading about Doris’ very difficult life. Yet, she lived through so many difficulties with grace, charm and courage.

So many of the people in the had died, and the reader glimpses into their relationship with Doris, not all described with love. We do meet the great love of her life Allan, and her most enduring love, her great niece Jenny.

Doris is so special and as a nonagenarian we learn how she faces her inevitable death. Honestly, I could not put the book down. There are so many topics for discussion, I hope it will be used by my seminar and reading groups.

This is a magical journey and I thank NETGALLLEY for allowing me to read it.

Was this review helpful?

Doris is a year old Swedish woman with only one living relative, a grandniece who lives in America and whom she Skypes with once a week. With little to do, Doris begins to leaf through an address book that her father gave her decades before. Most of the people in it are long gone, but Doris begins to reminisce about her life, as a model in Paris during the 1930’s, about her flight out of Sweden during World War II and about the love of her life, Allan. An engrossing story about one woman’s unforgettable life. This book will have you look at the elderly people you know with new respect

Was this review helpful?