Born in 1962 in Vaasa, Finland, Alakoski is a Sweden Finn: her parents are Finnish and her mother tongue is Finnish, but she moved to Sweden with her family when she was four years old.

[2] She spent her early life in the Fridhem area in Ystad, Sweden.

[4] Between 1995 and 2003, she worked as a press secretary for the Vänsterpartiet politician Gudrun Schyman.

The novel sold over 400,000 copies in Sweden and it has been made into a feature film with the English title of Beyond.

[8] She has also been editor for the anthologies Tala om klass, Lyckliga slut, and Fejkad orgasm[9] She is married to Mats Söderlund since 1990.