Author Lilly Setterdahl
Lilly Setterdahl began her writing career by writing research articles about the Swedish emigration to America. Eventually, she authored twelve nonfiction books about Swedes and Swedish settlements. The majority of these books are now out of print. She based most of her writings on research material preserved by her husband, Lennart Setterdahl. In 2007, Lilly won a novel writing competition and as a result her first novel, Maiden of the Titanic, was published. Her 13th book, Growing Up in Sweden, came out in 2008.
Lilly has also authored stories for children and a historical novel, Banbrytaren (The trail blazer) published as a serial novel in a Swedish family magazine. She is currently working on a nonfiction manuscript, Voices and Faces of Chicago Swedes , based on oral histories relating to the Great Depression.
Her fiction manuscripts waiting in the wings:
A novel about two baby-boomers finding new love
A sequel to Maiden of the Titanic.
Lilly is a native of Sweden and an American Citizen. She has chronicled her travels with her husband, Lennart Setterdahl, from coast to coast in the United States , parts of Canada , and Sydney , Australia , in search of Swedish-American archival material and oral histories.
She has received many awards, the latest being the 2009 Olov Isaksson Prize of Biskopskulla, Sweden, presented in Bishop Hill, Illinois, June 27, 2009 with the following motivation:
"The Bishop Hill Society has decided to award the 2009 Olov Isaksson Prize to one in the Midwest far traveled describer of the Swedish emigration history. In addition to all translated and published American letters from Bishop Hill to Sweden, the extensive emigration research, travel and interviews of Swedish-Americans, which she and her husband have made, have borne fruit in the many cultural and historical research articles and books she has published on the Swedish emigrants and their conditions of life in America... "
Book ReviewPublished by the
ISBN: 13:978-0-9778290-2-6
Submitted by: Marie Carlson, Editor, The Vasa Star
Vasa Star May-June 2009
“Many of you are probably familiar with Lilly Setterdahl. She has authored or coauthored 11 non-fiction books and several research articles to mention a few. In this book, Maiden of the Titanic, Lilly has ventured into a new field, a novel.
Anna, A Swedish-American maid, is one of the lucky survivors from the Titanic. Her savior, Roberto, an Italian body guard, comes to her rescue, and saves her from the icy waters of the
While this book touches on some historical facts, you also get a feel for life in
I found this book hard to put down, a real page-turner! I am eagerly awaiting a sequel!”