Stieg Larsson's Longtime Partner on Rumored Fourth Book
Aug. 6, 2010 — -- Lisbeth Salander is the bisexual, butt-kicking hacker at the center of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo."
Heard of it? Read it? Obsessed by it? Chances are the answer is yes.
Swedish author Stieg Larsson's so-called Millennium trilogy -- "Dragon Tattoo" is the first book in the series -- has sold over 40 million copies worldwide. Last week in the United States alone, the series sold nearly a book a second. Daniel Craig is set to star in the Hollywood film adaptation next year.
In the books, Larsson peels away Sweden's idyllic exterior, exposing corruption and the abuse of women. But he died before the first page was published. His estate is worth an estimated $40 million and counting.
Larsson's books leave behind an unlikely heroine whom fans adore. Lisbeth Salander is both victim and savior, fighting for her rights and for justice.
In real life there is another drama here in Sweden, as full of anger and accusations as anything the author might have written. At its heart, a woman who was a very real part of the author's life. Like Lisbeth Salander, she is also fighting for what she says are her rights.
Eva Gabrielsson met Stieg Larsson when she was just 18. Both were passionate and politically active. They lived together for 32 years, until suddenly he was gone.
"It was a horrible time," said Gabrielsson. "Even small daily things like making a pot of coffee, you can't even make a pot of coffee anymore because someone is missing to drink the other half. I was in deep shock."
That shock would deepen when Gabrielsson realized that, because the couple never married and Larsson did not leave a will, she would inherit nothing under Swedish law. No money, and more importantly, she says, no control over his literary estate.
