AUDIO: Larsson's partner fights for literary control

Eva Gabrielsson spent 30 years with Swedish writer Stieg Larsson, and feels she owes it to his memory to regain control of his literary legacy.

The man who wrote The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest died suddenly in 2004, ahead of the publication of his bestselling books.

Larsson's family has refused to accept Gabrielsson as his life partner and his father and brother have inherited the proceeds from the books. Gabrielsson is fighting back, but Swedish law guarantees her no rights because they were not legally married.

In an interview with Anna Maria Tremonti of CBC's The Current, Gabrielsson said they did not marry because of the constant death threats made toward Larsson, chiefly because of his reporting that exposed the extreme right wing in Sweden.

Gabrielsson said she turned down an offer of two million euros from the family because it involved giving up any claim to handling Larsson's books.

"What I asked for is I asked to be the one to handle the literary legacy. I didn't ask for the money, just the quality and the texts," she said, explaining that Larsson would not have approved of some of the titles given to the works and would have wanted to vet the translations.

Larsson's brother's claim that there is another manuscript somewhere is in part a ploy to put pressure on her, Gabrielsson said.

Gabrielsson said she worked closely with Larsson during his lifetime, and has often reflected on why his books have become so popular.

"I think it reflects a state of society that seems to be global now, the disillusion with politics, the disillusion with how industry is going, how the economics is going, the absolute dread at corruption at the abuse of power and abuse of position, the joy in seeing people fighting back, like old-time superheroes. There is something universal in this," she said.