Of course I wanted to know the story behind Pippi's creation . . . which is in here, but this was a fascinating read into what everyday life during WWII in Sweden was like, from the perspective of a woman and mother. Lindgren reflects several times on how very lucky Sweden was -- and how hard neutrality was to maintain. The complications of location (between Norway -- invaded by Germany & Finland-- battling Russia) was a perspective I hadn't appreciated before. Truly fascinating.