STOCKHOLM: “This will not come to any resolution. There´s too much at stake. All I can do is to write my book about it,” says Eva Gabrielsson, the long time partner of the late bestselling author Stieg Larsson.
Gabrielsson’s memoir, tentatively called The Year After Stieg, is likely to generate a great deal of publicity, so much so that Gabrielsson declines to reveal the name of the publisher. “The publisher will announce when the book is finished and in print,” she wrote in an email. “Until then, it´s better if we can work in peace.”
Why the interest? Well, Larsson’s novels – the bestselling Millennium trilogy, which starts with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo — have sold 12 million copies worldwide. Gabrielsson is in the midst of a contentious battle over control of the estate.
Currently valued at some 100 million Swedish kronor ($13 million), Larsson’s estate is likely to double or triple in coming years as the books continue to appear in more languages around the world (the second volume, The Girl who Played with Fire is scheduled to be published in the US this July).
Gabrielsson, now 54, lived with Stieg Larsson from 1974 until his death in 2004. Yet, due to Swedish inheritance laws, she was not entitled to a single krona. Instead, Larsson’s father and brother, with whom Eva claims Larsson had little contact, inherited the rights to the books.
“In Scandinavia, inheritances are “distributed” by law. People very seldom write testaments,” wrote Gabrielsson. “And Stieg lived under the impression that the special Cohabitation Act for common law relationships would also include inheritance. It does not. And that law also gives me no rights to go to court.” Her only hope is to try and reach a settlement with his family, something she’s pursued through her lawyer.
Among the items being fought over is Larsson’s laptop, which is said to contain some 200 pages of manuscript for a fourth novel and, it is speculated, outlines for further books. At one point, the family offered Gabrielsson their share of the apartment where she lived with Larsson in exchange for the laptop, a tactic Gabrielsson described as extortion.
The case has generated interest all over Europe, where Larsson’s books have topped bestseller lists.
“Earlier this year, I was watching a documentary about the case,” said Jan Moberg by phone from Drammen, Norway, “and I got the feeling someone had to do something about this.” Moburg, a former executive with Edda Media (Norway’s third largest newspaper company) marshaled his resources, and within three weeks launched a Web site to raise money and support for Gabrielsson’ s cause.
The site went live on April 22 and has raised $5,000 in less than a month; 62 people have signed the guestbook, some from as far away as Guyana and Chile. The site requests a modest donation of $3 per book read “if you’re annoyed” by the situation or $15 or more per book “if you’re really furious.”
“It’s like the plot of a Larsson novel,” said Moburg. “He wrote about how women are abused by men and about how they sometimes fight back. That was one of the messages of the books – to fight back. That’s what we’re trying to help her do.”
Gabrielsson says she’s grateful for the help. Though the legal negotiations have not put her in debt, she acknowledges, “three and a half years of this is expensive and sooner or later I will run out of funds or become unemployed, especially in these times of crisis. Then what do I do then? Give up?”
No. You fight back. It’s what Stieg would have wanted.
DONATE: To Eva Gabrielsson’s cause
WRITE: Her a message of support
WATCH: An interview with Gabrielsson on her fight
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winnie
1 year ago
Read the first two books…. go girl a big support from South Africa-
Fight back…
Christina
10 months ago
Of course Eva should have the money.
mirain
10 months ago
The question is not whether Eva should fight back but why Swedish law is so backwards on this issue!
myming
9 months ago
fight back, eva !
is there a way to petition the swedish government to change the law ?
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8 months ago
[...] Sense of Snow in 1994. On that note, one of our very first stories at Publishing Perspectives way back in May discussed the ongoing legal dispute that Eva Gabrielsson, the long time partner of Stieg Larsson, [...]
ANNA
8 months ago
Eva, all Stieg’s affectionate readers are with you.
He must have been a great man, and you have been lucky to share your life with him.
Fight on and don’t give up.
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7 months ago
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primohag
6 months ago
How on earth can Sweden call itself a progressive country when its inheritance laws are so far behind those of the US? Even here in the States, we are starting to allow gay unions and marriages addressing problems of inheritance, pensions, etc. How can women in Sweden be so badly treated? Shame on you.
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Inspirerende ontmoetingen! Verder op weg met het web ………. | Online Faciliteren en meer
5 months ago
[...] had een partner: Eva Gabrielsson. In een testament dat Larsson in 1977 had opgesteld, bepaalde hij dat zijn nalatenschap naar de [...]
Hypercrime - Incidents in The Nordic Scene
5 months ago
[...] governing inheritance in common law relationships, not seen any royalties for the books, and is reportedly writing a book of her own about [...]
navi
3 months ago
Fight back EVA!!!! Remember Lisbeth… Steig wants to portray he loves the most thru her.. You know its you.. love..
Kay
3 months ago
Fight back Eva! Fight back!
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3 months ago
Teachers are those who help us in resolving problems which, without them, we wouldn
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ajam
2 months ago
Simply do not purchase any more of Stieg’s books, get them from the library, or download them over the internet.
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2 months ago
[...] thorough examination of his legacy that I’ve yet seen. It’s also a nice bookend to the very first article we published here at Publishing Perspectives — The Woman Who Fought Back — a little more [...]
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[...] first break-out story on Eva Gabrielsson, the long-time partner of Stieg Larsson, and the battle over Larsson’s [...]
Jean Young
1 month ago
Fight back Eva. Women all over the world need your example.
Jean
2 weeks ago
Well, the Sweden reflected in the Millenium trilogy & through this neolithic legal battle (which only confirms Larsson’s view of the male-dominated, misogynistic culture of his native land) will certainly never be on my list of places in the world I must see. This lady gave up the right to marry him in order to prolong his life, and she is now given the shaft. We can only hope that enough of Swedish society snubs the father & brother that their miserably rich lives will gainsay little happiness from this out and out huge scale embezzlement. She lived with & protected Stieg for nearly twice as many years as he would have ever lived with this father & brother. It is incredible to us in the US that this issue would not have been resolved by now. Swedish law on this subject brings to mind the death penalty for women in Saudi Arabia & Iran for certain misfeasances. This lady deserves so much more.
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2 weeks ago
[...] In the meantime, her story continues here: http://publishingperspectives.com/?p=291 [...]