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A review by book_concierge
The Red Address Book by Sofia Lundberg
2.0
2.5**
From the book jacket: 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.
My reactions: I am so over the dual time-line device in historical fiction! Just tell the story. This seemed very disjointed, what with the drama occurring in present day – both Doris and Jenny have some serious problems – and the drama of her great lost love in the past, I just never felt connected to these characters or to the story. I wanted more of Gosta, the artist that Doris befriended and who came through for her when she most needed him. I felt that the love affair with Allan was rushed and not really fleshed out. Yes, I remember the passion of a youthful love affair, the way your emotions wipe everything else out of your consciousness; but this just seemed underdeveloped to me. I also thought the relationship with Jenny’s mother (Doris’s niece) was lacking depth.
So, while I enjoyed reading about the modeling career in 1930s Paris, and the pluck and drive which took Doris across the ocean (twice), I was decidedly “meh” about the whole.
From the book jacket: 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.
My reactions: I am so over the dual time-line device in historical fiction! Just tell the story. This seemed very disjointed, what with the drama occurring in present day – both Doris and Jenny have some serious problems – and the drama of her great lost love in the past, I just never felt connected to these characters or to the story. I wanted more of Gosta, the artist that Doris befriended and who came through for her when she most needed him. I felt that the love affair with Allan was rushed and not really fleshed out. Yes, I remember the passion of a youthful love affair, the way your emotions wipe everything else out of your consciousness; but this just seemed underdeveloped to me. I also thought the relationship with Jenny’s mother (Doris’s niece) was lacking depth.
So, while I enjoyed reading about the modeling career in 1930s Paris, and the pluck and drive which took Doris across the ocean (twice), I was decidedly “meh” about the whole.