User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
3.5 stars
Doris is of one of the people that the author dedicates this book to and also the name of the central character. So of course I was curious to know the connection. In a conversation with Sofia Lundberg on the Amazon book description, she talks about her great Aunt Doris, whose address book she found after her beloved aunt died. Most of the names in the book were crossed out with the word dead next to them. That this book is based on that makes the story certainly more meaningful and the author does a great job with depicting the loneliness that Doris must have felt as she crossed off the names of so many of her family and friends. I have enjoyed a number of books about elderly people nearing the end of their lives bringing their wisdom and experience to a younger person in their life as well as the reader and Doris’ story does just that.
At 96, Doris is living a quiet life alone in her apartment in Sweden with the help of caregivers who visit her daily. We come to know through her writing how she lived as we come to know through the entries in her address book some of the important people in her life. From the time as a young girl when she is forced out of her home to become a house maid in Sweden, moving to her years in Paris as a live mannequin and a model in Paris, she connects with a number of people. She makes makes friends and falls in love along the way. I loved the idea of the names in her address book telling her story and I came to love Doris for her strength and feistiness. This is sweet, sad and sentimental, but in the end I found it a little melodramatic with an ending that didn’t feel realistic . 3 stars, but an extra extra half star for Doris.
I received an advanced copy of this book from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt through NetGalley.
Rating: really liked it
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
Rating: really liked it
4 nostalgic stars!Oh, this book is quite lovely and nostalgic. Doris is 96 years old and lives alone in Stockholm, Sweden. She’s a bit of a recluse but looks forward to her weekly Skype calls with Jenny, her only relative and grandniece who lives in the United States.
Doris has a special address book she was gifted by her father when she was a child. In it, she has documented the names and addresses of everyone she’s known throughout her life. She crosses out the names when people have passed away.
In looking through her address book, Doris decides help Jenny by illuminating their family’s past and writing about it. Doris has lived a full life. She was a model on Paris runways in the 1930s and was forced to flee to Manhattan at the start of World War II. She also wonders what ever happened to Allan, the love of her life...
Oh, this book. I want to hug it. There is a somber, melancholic tone as Doris reflects on her life, a life full and well-lived. There is also plenty of love and uplifting, too.
I loved Doris and Jenny as if they were members of my own family, as if Doris was telling me the story of my family, and I wish she had been. I only have three living great aunts, whom I adore, and I soak up every word of reflection they give me on my grandparents or my great grandparents. Doris’ story is a treasure. Thanks to the author for telling it.
Thank you to the publisher for the complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
My reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com
Rating: really liked it
3.5 stars
I'm a sucker for these books that feature an elderly character who decides to reflect back on their life. This one had a unique premise as a woman's address book was used to help tell the story. While this book had a bit of charm it also packed an emotional punch in ways I wasn't expecting.
Ninety-six year old Doris doesn't have much contact with the outside world and therefore looks forward to her weekly Skype sessions with her grandniece, Jenny. Doris's father gave her an address book when she was a child and she decides to take a look at it while she writes down some of the moments that shaped her life.
The story went in some directions I didn't see coming but it makes sense given just about everyone has hard moments in life. It felt like there was better focus in the first half or so of the book than the later chapters when in some ways it felt like the story shifted gears and turned into something else. I'm not saying I didn't like it, but I do wish there would have been more of a smooth transition. Overall though, you do end up falling in love with Doris as she is an easy character to feel emotionally invested in and I would definitely recommend this as a good read.
I received a free arc of this book from BookishFirst and the publisher. I was under no obligation to post a review here and all views expressed are my honest opinion.
Rating: really liked it
Thanks to Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. I am not going to lie to any of you- this Goodreads rating is totally
influenced by my emotions. Although I like to play my cards close and portray myself as a cynic, Swedish author Sofia Lundberg's Doris squirmed her way into my heart. Just how do the Swedish keep doing this to me?( looking at you, Fredrik Backman)
The greatest comfort in life comes from freely expressing one's opinion and being met with nothing but love in return, even when opinions diverge. Usually when a reviewer writes a review we are trying to list all the reason you should/shouldn't read this book. I can only think about one reason you should
LOVE! This book is all about that in big capital letters with tears rolling from eyes that have witnessed regrets, loss of family, terror, and above all love. If you need a second reason- well, you just need to meet Doris!
I wish you enough sun to light up your days, enough rain that you appreciate the sun. Enough joy to strengthen your soul, enough pain that you can appreciate life's small moments of happiness, enough meetings that you can say a farewell.
Rating: really liked it
"Where've you been?"
"I've looked for you forever and a day."
"Where've you been?"
"I'm just not myself when you're away." --Where’ve You Been, Kathy Mattea, Songwriters: Don Henry / Jon Vezner
”So many names pass by us in a lifetime. Have you ever thought about that, Jenny? All the names that come and go. That rip our hearts to pieces and make us shed tears. That become lovers or enemies. I leaf through my address book sometimes. It has become something like a map of my life, and I want to tell you a bit about it. So that you, who’ll be the only one who remembers me, will also remember my life. A kind of testament. I’ll give you my memories. They’re the most beautiful thing I have.”At the age of 96, Doris is living in Stockholm, after having lived many places in those many years. The one person in her life that she is still close with after all those years is her grandniece, Jenny, who lives in San Francisco with her husband, sons and young daughter. While they may be many miles apart, they talk through Skype weekly.
Doris wants to leave a written story of her life, and her reminiscences are told as she wanders through her red address book, noting the names, and if they are deceased, and through these connections Doris tells her story, a love story that shares the connection of all the people she has loved, along with the one true romantic love she had many, many years ago. There is much to tell, to share with Jenny before she passes, and as she shares these stories, she finds herself reliving those feelings. Her life in Sweden, and Paris, New York and England, all of her experiences, including those during WWII, her life as a model, and the man that she loved, loves still.
This was lovely and sweet, overall, if a bit slow to really begin. It really was worth the wait to really feel as if I knew who Doris was and feel what she was feeling. I appreciated that this gave us another look at life during WWII, and overall I just loved following her life through her years, meeting all the people who she held so dear to her heart, and those who were important to her story in other, less lovely ways, and I felt my heart break a little at the end of this story.
Pub Date: 08 Jan 2019
Many thanks for the ARC provided by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Rating: really liked it
**Everyone needs to know about this book and to read it.**
Doris is 96, lives alone in Stockholm, and only has a niece in the United States that she Skypes with.
Doris has caregivers stopping by during the day and is essentially alone except for her memories and the red address book her father gave to her when she was thirteen. The red address book has kept track of every person she has met over her life time.
At thirteen after her father died, Doris was forced into becoming a servant in a wealthy household since her mother couldn't afford to feed her. While in the wealthy household, a model agency saw Doris and Doris became a living mannequin in Paris.
THE RED ADDRESS BOOK takes us back and forth in Doris' life as she reminisces about her past and all the people that have been in and have touched her life.
This book was a beautiful, beautiful read that I didn't want to end.
It was heartwarming as well as heartbreaking.
For a debut novel, the author did a marvelous job with the dual time line and with keeping my interest.
I truly enjoyed Doris' interesting life story. It made me want to document anything in my life that might be important for my family to know.
If you are in need of a book that will have you remembering and loving the characters and the story line long after you close the last page, THE RED ADDRESS BOOK will be a welcome read.
I absolutely LOVED this book that was filled with love and a book everyone needs to read. 5/5
This book was given to me as an ARC by the publisher via NetGalley and BookishFirst in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
The Red Address Book by Sofia Lundberg was first published in Sweden in 2017. The book has since been translated to English by Alice Menzies and is available as of January 2019. This novel documents the sentimental journey of Doris, a 96-year-old woman living alone in Stockholm. Her only living relative is Jenny, her grandniece who lives in the US with her young family. The two women skype once a week and have a close and loving relationship. Doris was given a red address book by her father when she was a child. Throughout her long life, she wrote in many names of people who were part of her journey. In her old age, she started to write the story of each person in her book so that Jenny would know the history of Doris and herself. In failing health, Doris cannot forget one man who passed in and out of her life. Whatever happened to him? This small novel is a beautiful story of one woman's life. It is a little gem. Highly recommended. Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
A book written about a 96 year old woman in Stockholm who wrote the names of everyone she encountered in a red address book . It was given to her by her father many years ago. When the person died, she would draw a line thru the name and write the word DEAD. As she was coming to the end of our own life, she starts to write down the memories of these people to pass on to her great niece Jenny to keep her life alive.
Her life spans a century and it takes you the reader through World War II, from Paris as a live mannequin where she was excepted to stand without moving while shoppers admired the dresses, to New York were she meet her true love Allan Smith and a lifetime of "what ifs". The address book told the tale of the end of her childhood. The commitment she had to Agnes her sister. Her use of Skype to communicate to the outside world. The life long friendship of Gosta, Elaine, and Paul. A beautifully written novel that flows both and forth in time effortlessly.
Quote:
It was Madame who taught me that people come in many different shapes. That others' expectations of us are not always right.
The screen, so recently full of life and love, turns black. How can silence be so overwhelming?
"Why do we never sit out here anymore?" she whispers, closing her eyes as the sea breeze blows on her face. A heavy truck thunders past,and they laugh. "That's why," Willie whispers, kissing her head.
Rating: really liked it
The premise of this book is wonderful. Doris writes her memiors centered around a red address book that her father gave her as a young girl in Sweden. For each entry, there is a story, in which she marks "Dead" by each name as she concludes each written legacy to her niece, Jenny.
The book just did not resonate with me. It jumps back and forth between 96 year old Doris's painful time in the hospital, to Jenny and her family, and back in time as Doris reminisces on her past, primarily up to and through the second world war.
The wisdom she desires to pass down through generations is admirable. However, the stories did not trigger any emotion for me and just fell flat.
Rating: really liked it
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.
Rating: really liked it
A nostalgic and tender story with more than a few pearls of wisdom.So many names pass by us in a lifetime. Have you ever thought about that, Jenny? All the names that come and go. That tip our hearts to pieces and makes us shed tears. That become lovers or enemies. I leaf through my address book sometimes. It has become something like a map of my life and I want to tell you a bit about it. So that you, who’ll be the only one who remembers me, will also remember my life. A kind of testament. I’ll give you my memories. They’re the most beautiful thing I have.So begins a journey through Doris’ life, using a battered old red-leather book with yellowed pages as the map. How many days did she spend alone with only her memories for company? Too many it seems, but those memories brim with all that life has to offer. The highs and lows, joy, love, adventure, heartbreak and the fragility of all we hold dear. It’s a charming, often sad story, but ultimately comforting.
And I’ll share a wish that Doris’ mother gifted her and which Doris passed along…
I wish you enough. Enough sun to light up your days, enough rain that you appreciate the sun. Enough joy to strengthen your soul, enough pain that you can appreciate life’s small moments of happiness. And enough friends that you can manage a farewell now and then.I read a review that noted this was ‘a love letter to the human heart’ and I have to agree. It is also a love letter to the power of storytelling. Fans of Frederik Backman will find much to love in these pages.
Rating: really liked it
This book is a treasure!
Doris is a young 96 years of age. Living on her own in an apartment in Stockholm, Doris uses modern technology to Skype with her grandniece, Jenny. Jenny is the last of her living relatives, and Doris greatly enjoys the time she can spend with Jenny. She looks forward to each visit.
Nearly 9 decades earlier, a very young Jenny was given a gift from her father - a little address book. Little could that little girl imagine the impact that address book would have on her life, and the meaning it would take on.
Doris meticulously recorded everyone she met and loved in her little red address book from that point on. As she takes a walk down memory lane when she slowly reads the little book, her heart aches with the number of names with lines through them - those who have passed on.
In an instant, Doris is inspired to write her story, including the people who lived in her little red address book. As it turns out, her 96 years were filled with quite an amazing life. Doris was a model (in Paris no less!), served as a maid in Sweden, and landed in the U.S. when she realized World War II was about to destroy many lives.
This book has been called "charming". It is. And it is so much more.
Rating: really liked it
When I first saw this book and read about it I couldn’t wait to get it. Then I was approved from NetGalley to read it, I was that much more excited. It was a slow start for me and I even thought this book wasn’t for me at first. But then I looked at the many many 4-5 star reviews at NetGalley and thought I gotta keep going, I can’t be the only one who didn’t enjoy it. Boy oh boy am I glad I kept going!! This book is highly entertaining and what a life 96 year old Doris lived. All stories told through a red address book!!! I found I could not put it down. Very well written and a charming story it was! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this amazing book before it was published. All opinions are strictly my own.
