Anxious People

Fredrik Backman knows exactly how to break my heart. And he does it just moments after making me snort with laughter. The author of A Man Called Ove and Britt-Marie Was Here ups the comedy in his new novel, but his trademark unfolding of each character’s back story several times left me so stunned I had to stop reading and remind myself to breathe. Anxious People is about a bank robber, a bridge, an apartment open house, a father-son relationship, loneliness, and how so many of us are unable to tell people we love them out loud but do so in quiet ways that go unnoticed. It is classic Backman, where he illuminates the flaws and foibles that make us fully human.