The Red Address Book

The Red Address Book by Sofia Lundberg
Translated by Alice Menzies
Fiction
2017 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Finished on March 24, 2019
Rating: 2/5 (Fair)

Publisher's Blurb:

For fans of A Man Called Ove and The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared comes a heartwarming debut about 96-year-old Doris, who writes down her memories as she pages through her decades-old address book. But the most profound moment of her life is still to come . . .

Meet Doris, a 96-year-old woman living alone in her Stockholm apartment. She has few visitors, but her weekly Skype calls with Jenny--her American grandniece, and her only relative--give her great joy and remind her of her own youth.

When Doris was a girl, she was given an address book by her father, and ever since she has carefully documented everyone she met and loved throughout the years. Looking through the little book now, Doris sees the many crossed-out names of people long gone and is struck by the urge to put pen to paper. In writing down the stories of her colorful past--working as a maid in Sweden, modelling in Paris during the 30s, fleeing to Manhattan at the dawn of the Second World War--can she help Jenny, haunted by a difficult childhood, unlock the secrets of their family and finally look to the future? And whatever became of Allan, the love of Doris's life?

A charming novel that prompts reflection on the stories we all should carry to the next generation, and the surprises in life that can await even the oldest among us, The Red Address Book introduces Sofia Lundberg as a wise--and irresistible--storyteller.


I wish I could give this a higher rating, but I really didn't like it and only finished because it wasn't that long. Maybe something was lost in the translation, but the dialogue was simplistic and awkward and the relationship between Doris' grandniece and husband was predictable and sappy, spoiling the narrative for this reader. I discovered this book through several blogging friends, many of whom enjoyed it quite a bit better than I. I like reading about aging characters, and loved Emily, Alone by Stewart O'Nan and A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Bachman, but this one left me wanting something a bit more substantial.