In Sweden, literature gives pride of place to thrillers, a particularly popular genre which exports well. Like the trilogy Millennium by Stieg Larsson, who enjoyed worldwide success. But it is Camilla Läckberg who reigns over this kingdom. She is the most widely read Swedish author in the world, notably thanks to her investigations of Erica Falck and Patrik Hedström, published to date in eleven bestsellers. His books have sold more than twenty-six million copies worldwide. Translated into more than 30 languages, some of his stories are regularly adapted for the big and small screen.
In France, it was TF1 which decided to take over the world of Camilla Läckberg, by adapting, in six episodes, the first three books of the Erica Falck and Patrik Hedström series. The first two episodes were broadcast on January 6, 2025, with Julie de Bona and Grégory Fitoussi. An adaptation, which moves away a little from the frosty universe of Camilla Läckberg’s novels, but which is not without displeasing the novelist, interviewed during her visit to Paris to present the series.
“I watched the first two episodes in one go, and I cried”
It must be emotional to see your first novel, the one that launched your career, being adapted for television for the first time?
“Yes, I watched the first two episodes in one go, and I cried. It’s a story I wrote over twenty years ago, and it has a special meaning for me, because it launched me as a writer. »
How did TF1 present its project to you to adapt the first three novels into a series, and why did you accept?
“I function above all thanks to the alchemy that is created with the people I meet. I was immediately attracted by the way in which the members of the production company presented the project to me, because it corresponds perfectly to the way I would have adopted if I had adapted my novels myself. »
Does this mean that you were able to collaborate with the writers?
“Yes, they showed great generosity. I had the opportunity to read all versions of the script and add my comments. They also contacted me several times to obtain details about the characters and the world of the novels. »
Other novels in the Erica Falck and Patrik Hedström series have been adapted for television in Sweden. Is the French version different?
“Yes and no. The French version is very faithful to the books: the story, the characters, the universe… There are so many details that I recognize. But it’s clearly French! It’s also very strange to see Erica and Patrick speaking in French, it creates a bit of confusion in my head! »
What do you mean by French?
“It’s difficult to explain, it’s all in the emotion, in the feeling, or in the small details. For example, the French tend to speak more with their hands. It’s these subtle nuances that tell another story. »
All books in the Erica Falck and Patrik Hedström series take place in your home village of Fjällbacka, a fishing port. What reasons guided your choice?
“When I started writing, I took writing classes. During a session, where we were discussing the choice of an environment, the teacher advised me to choose a place that I know very well. I knew immediately that I wanted to write about Fjällbacka, because there is no place more familiar than where you grew up. Besides, I find that small towns are often more interesting than large metropolises. »
-In “The Ice Princess”, it is cold and snowing in Fjällbacka. In the TF1 series, the atmosphere is completely different, very sunny. A particular reason?
“We did not seek to faithfully reproduce Fjällbacka in the French version. The team found this French city and asked my opinion. I visited it in May and I think it works really well. It’s slightly different from Fjällbacka, but I’m convinced that it creates a unique and French version of this universe. »
Is your heroine Erica Falck also you?
“It is largely inspired by me, but not entirely. Our lives have been very interconnected over the past 20 years, and I drew on a lot of personal experiences to build this character, like my pregnancy, and juggling work and raising children. So there are a lot of similarities between us. »
The last book of the latest adventures of Erika Falck and Patrick Hedström was released on June 5, 2024 and it was highly anticipated. Do you know why readers are so attached to these characters?
“Everywhere I go, I ask readers this question, because it fascinates me. The answer I get most often is that they consider these characters to be friends, who they could invite to dinner. They identify with them because they are not superheroes, but simply human beings, like them. »
The Erica series has been broadcast on TF1 every Monday evening, at 9:10 p.m., since January 6, 2025, for three weeks. All of Camilla Läckberg’s novels are published by Actes Sud.
bio express
> Born in Fjällbacka, August 30, 1974.
> She graduated with a degree in economics from the University of Gothenburg and moved to Stockholm, where she worked as an economist.
> At the beginning of the 2000s, her first husband, her mother and her brother offered her a writing course, which helped her imagine the story of her first book, “The Ice Princess”, published in Sweden in 2003 The first novel in a long series about the adventures of Erica Falck and Patrick Hedström.
> In 2019, she published “The Golden Cage”, the first book in the series “A Woman’s Vengeance is Sweet and Merciless”, which met with international success.
> Camilla Läckberg is also the author of children’s books “Super Charlie” and cooking books.
> In 2017, she opened a clinic for women in a chic neighborhood of Stockholm.
