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4+ stars
I was anxious to read this book, good anxious, as in I couldn’t wait to read it. Fredrik Backman has been on my list of favorite authors since I read A Man Called Ove several years ago. I’ve have read all of his published books and I loved all of them. But when I started reading this one, I became anxious in another way. I was anxious because I thought I was going to end up not liking the book. It’s kind of a quirky story, bizarre at times. The narrator even says , “The whole thing is a complicated, unlikely story. Perhaps that’s because what we think stories are about often isn’t what they’re about at all. This for instance, might not actually be the story of a bank robbery, or an apartment viewing, or a hostage drama. Perhaps, it isn’t even a story of idiots. Perhaps this story is about a bridge.� ( From an advanced copy.)


A failed bank robbery that turns into an apartment hostage situation and it felt just a bit over the top, but then, as he always does, Backman sneaks up on you and you’re laughing one minute and heartbroken the next and ultimately your heart is stolen. I’m not even going to try to relay the plot here. Fans of Backman will want to read it for themselves. I will say, though, that I definitely was not disappointed and in the end, my anxiety was unwarranted. Its moving and reflective of Backman’s astute sense of humanity. A humanity in all of its glory as these characters share their anxieties over the burdens that life doles out, and they open their hearts to each other.

I was reminded of the parental love and anxiety over children that we saw in the Beartown books, of relationships between a parents and children, of relationships between husband and wives. There’s some of the same seemingly simple prose conveying something more meaningful than at first glance in this novel as in the others. The relationships that developed between strangers were perhaps the most poignant. Connections slowly unfold between characters and I felt myself slowly connecting to all of them, especially the bank robber. This felt personal and philosophical in many ways. The intimate tone reminded me of Things My Son Needs to Know about the World. I loved that Backman created these characters who made me believe at a time when I needed believing, that there just might be people who will do something even if it seems they shouldn’t, just because it’s the right thing to do.


I received an advanced copy of this book from Atria Books . A special thanks to Ariele Fredman.