My, my, what fantastic dishes! Here were nuts, fruit and greens, and, of course, fish and poultry as well as a roast on Sundays. He had to restrain his impulse to ask if he could have a taste, went past the kitchen and came into the big living room. In there, dance music was blaring away, and seniors with and without walking sticks and wheelchairs were taking a turn around the floor. A bit further away, the drainpipe woman was standing in front of two record players, waving her arms above her head—the resident DJ.
“Arne Lamberth is great, isn’t he! What shall we have next, something jolly?” she called out in a loud voice.
“No, ‘Rock Around the Clock!’” shouted an elderly gentleman with a bandanna around his neck.
“Yes, that one!” shouted a group of oldies in the bar and immediately they moved onto the dance floor. The whole gang must be at least twenty-five years older than he was, but they looked much younger. He had, admittedly, heard that some Japanese up in some mountain region (in Japan, presumably) could often be more than a hundred years old, so it wasn’t impossible. But how could eighty-year-olds in Sweden look so young? He was on his way to the record players to ask the lady to turn them off, when he caught sight of a schedule with the daily activities. Once again, he stopped. Good God! This gang of seniors had yoga and gymnastics every day, and lots of courses besides. And the choice! Watercolors, cooking, and an advanced course on Swedish and foreign literature. In addition there were special courses in pottery, woodwork and silver work. So that was why there had been so much hammering in the building recently. And as if that wasn’t enough: on Fridays they organized mindfulness and speed dating.
He found himself standing there, scratching his head. Could it really be true? Yes, they seemed to work as well. He was looking at a poster about a Senior Service Pool, where the seniors offered their services as party organizers, helping with your garden, baking and even assistance with solving crosswords. These old people even organized courses about computers where Einstein IT taught you how to transfer money via the Internet. And made sure you didn’t get tricked by hackers.
He shook his head and glanced furtively at the bar. Now he didn’t have the energy to care any more about how they had got permission to serve alcohol. He just wanted a beer. A large beer.
“Hello, there! Aren’t you going to dance? We are short of men. Come on, now, join in . . .” said an elderly lady, peering at him. Joie de vivre glowed in her eyes. It wasn’t the one who looked like a drainpipe, no, it was that Martha woman who had persuaded him to rent out the premises. He was lost for words.
“Dance? I want to sleep, the music is so loud that I can’t—”
“But for goodness’ sake! Get some earplugs and sound-insulating windows, then. Come on now!”
“But—”
“One should amuse oneself while one can, don’t you think so?” she said. And when Falander saw her outstretched arms he couldn’t say no. So when the disc jockey played “Heartbreak Hotel,” he followed her out onto the dance floor and they danced. And for the next dance, it was he who asked her. “Fly Me to the Moon” was on the record player and Frank Sinatra’s smooth voice filled the room.
“Shall we dance?” he asked rather shyly and she nodded so sweetly that he felt completely lost. From her and all the others around, there radiated such joie de vivre and warmth. One should live life and amuse oneself while one could. Wasn’t that just what she had said, that Martha?
Acknowledgements
THE LEAGUE OF PENSIONERS HAS NOW STRUCK AGAIN AND IN The Little Old Lady Behaving Badly the gang has given the author plenty to do. And in such circumstances, it is great to have help and support en route.
My warm thanks to my Swedish publishers, Bokförlaget Forum, who have worked with this book. Mega thanks to my publisher Teresa Knochenhauer for a thorough and constructive review of the manuscript, and to my editor Liselott Wennborg for all the work she has put in, all her tidying up and polishing. My thanks also to Anna Cerps for proofreading, to Agneta Tomasson for production and to Désirée Molinder, who was the production manager. Similarly, thanks to Sara Lindegren and Annelie Eldh in the communications department, who worked to introduce the book to the public and to Göran Wiberg, Bernt Meissner, Torgny Lundin and Bo Bergman, who have visited bookshops throughout the country to market the books. They have had the help of Nils Olsson’s delightful covers on all three books in the series with their distinct flavor.
Outside the publishers, many good friends have been of invaluable help. My warm thanks to Lena Sanfridsson for your constructive criticism and professional help and Inger Sjöholm-Larsson for all your wise views. You have made my job much more fun. I would similarly like to thank Ingrid Lindgren for her feedback—quick as a flash—to my writing efforts as the book has gradually grown, and to Gunnar Ingelman, whose constructive criticism and joyful cheers have followed the writing process from the first to the last chapter. A big thank-you also to Mika Larsson, who gave me her direct, honest opinion of the text and content, and to Barbro von Schönberg for her knowledgeable and positive feedback which pleased the author. Thank you too, Agneta Lundström, for your lovely support.
A warm thank-you also to Isabella Ingelman-Sundberg for friendly, quick and lovely support, Fredrik Ingelman-Sundberg for happy inspiration and jolly solutions to problems, and Henrik Ingelman-Sundberg for your always wonderfully candid criticism.
I would also like to thank Magnus Nyberg who, with his direct and unembellished approach, has let me know what is good and what might perhaps be improved and Solbritt Benneth, who went through the first manuscript in detail. A big thank-you also to Kerstin Fägerblad, who has read all my books from the very first to the most recent in the first version, which I have much appreciated over the years.
I would further like to thank my teachers at Manuspiloterna, Kurt Öberg and Fredrik Lindqvist, for brilliant teaching about characterization and film dramaturgy.
Warm thanks go also to Maria Enberg, Lena Stjernström, Peter Stjernström, Lotta Jämtsved Millberg and Umberto Ghidoni at my Swedish literary agent’s, Grand Agency. Thanks to your work, the League of Pensioners has been sold to lots of different countries in the world and The Little Old Lady Behaving Badly has already started its journey along the same export track. A big, big thank-you!
Finally, I would like to thank Hans and Sonja Allbäck, who have inspired me and supported my writing over many years, and thanks to Rehné and Kim-Benjamin Falkarp at Fryst for inspiring conversations and the best ice cream in Stockholm.
About the Author
CATHARINA INGELMAN-SUNDBERG is the Swedish author of the internationally bestselling The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules and The Little Old Lady Who Struck Lucky Again! After pursuing a career in journalism and a stint as a marine archaeologist, Catharina turned her hand to writing fiction. Her books have been translated into thirty languages and have sold over two million copies internationally. Catharina lives outside Stockholm, in Sweden, and writes from a log cabin in her garden.
To find out more, visit her website,
www.catharinaingelman-sundberg.com
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Praise for The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules
“A quirky, offbeat delight and a heartwarming reminder that one is never too old for some mischief.”
—Tom Winter, author of Lost & Found
“Reminded me of the more mischievous moments of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”
—J.B. Morrison, author of The Extra Ordinary Life of Frank Derrick, Age 81
“Swedish writers may be known for their crime novels, but Ingelman-Sundberg’s caper involves illegal activity of a rather unusual order: The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules is a story about spirited seniors determined to have fun and raise some hell.”
—Booklist
“Ingelman-Sundberg deftly orchestrates the foibles of real life . . . and captures the rebelliousness percolating just under the surfa
ce of ignored, shuffled-away elderly folks. A merry, lighthearted caper.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Readers will pull for the unlikely gang in their efforts to commit the ‘ultimate crime’ toward the end of this appealing crime novel.”
—Publishers Weekly
“The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules is, then, a pleasant piece of comic crime fiction with some very clever plotting. But it is more than that: It is a condemnation of the manner in which our society—and certainly not just in Sweden—treats its older generation.”
—New York Journal of Books
“A comedy of errors, oversights, and obstacles infuse Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg’s clever U.S. debut, and the hilarious, escalating antics of a spirited cast of walker-dependent characters in their seventies and eighties will have readers of all ages rooting for their cause.”
—Shelf Awareness (starred review)
“A hilarious comedy of errors. . . . The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules is the read of the summer.”
—Bookloons.com
“Refreshing and thought-provoking.”
—San Antonio Express-News
“A truly fun, enjoyable, [and] wonderful novel.”
—San Francisco Book Review
Also by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg
The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules
The Little Old Lady Who Struck Lucky Again!
Copyright
Originally published as Rån och inga visor in Sweden in 2016 by Bokförlaget Forum.
THE LITTLE OLD LADY BEHAVING BADLY. Copyright © 2018 by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg by agreement with Barbara J. Zitwer Agency in cooperation with Grand Agency. Translation copyright Macmillan Publishers International Ltd. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST U.S. EDITION PUBLISHED 2018.
Digital Edition JUNE 2018 ISBN: 978-0-06-269224-5
Version 05032018
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-269233-7 (pbk.)
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The Little Old Lady Behaving Badly Page 39
