Sofia Lundberg Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Interview

Sofia Lundberg discusses her first novel, The Red Address Book

Have you always wanted to write?

Yes. For as long as I can remember. I grew up in a home without books and my parents weren't readers. Yet, I always felt so close to literature. I started to read before I began school. I loved the library and the bookstores. I used to sit and read on the floor until they threw me out. I remember reading writers like Dostoyevsky, Hemingway, Steinbeck, and Graham Greene when I was very young.


The Red Address Book was inspired by your great aunt's address book. But you did not begin writing the novel immediately after you found it. What prompted you to finally write this story?

My Doris—my great aunt was also named Doris—was my best friend growing up. She took care of me and she gave me so much love and attention. When she died, I found her address book hidden in a shelf in her hallway. She had crossed most of her friends' names out and had written the word 'dead' next to them. It broke my heart to realize how lonely she must have felt.

Her death was very painful for me, as we were so close. I couldn't stop thinking about it. Many years later, I came up with the idea to write a novel about this. It took a lot of thinking, and the thinking took time.

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