Britt-Marie var her - Fredrik Backman

[goodreads]

Title: Britt-Marie Was Here
Author: Fredrik Backman
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 5/5
# pages: 377
Date read: October, 2016

For as long as anyone can remember, Britt-Marie has been an acquired taste. It's not that she's judgemental, or fussy, or difficult - she just expects things to be done in a certain way. A cutlery drawer should be arranged in the right order, for example (forks, knives, then spoons). We're not animals, are we?

But behind the passive-aggressive, socially awkward, absurdly pedantic busybody is a woman who has more imagination, bigger dreams and a warmer heart than anyone around her realizes.

So when Britt-Marie finds herself unemployed, separated from her husband of 20 years, left to fend for herself in the miserable provincial backwater that is Borg - of which the kindest thing one can say is that it has a road going through it - and somehow tasked with running the local football team, she is a little unprepared. But she will learn that life may have more to offer her that she's ever realised, and love might be found in the most unexpected of places.


I'd read "A Man Called Ove" at the last readathon and thought it alright. Pretty good, but not the masterpiece other people made it out to be. However, I'd also heard that "Britt-Marie Was Here" was supposed to be better, so when a friend of mine offered to lend it to me for the October readathon, I jumped at the chance.

It was SO good! The very first page had me giggling, and I kept laughing out loud at regular intervals throughout the book. The last third turned slightly more serious, and the laughter turned into tears at times, but I still closed the book with a happy sigh. Funny and poignant, it was everything I'd hoped for, and I am now firmly convinced of Backman's talent as a writer.

I loved Britt-Marie (once I got over my frustration with her!), I loved 'Somebody', I loved Vega, Omar and Sami. I loved the ending.

Absolutely brilliant book all around.