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Everyone's Relatable


    Fredrik Backman's Anxious People is a 2019 publication, translated into English in 2021. This novel was nothing I had expected it to be based on the synopsis of a desperate individual who turned to robbing a bank in order to overcome current life circumstances. The novel follows a number of characters and their current livelihoods; individuals "held up" as hostages in the middle of an apartment showing which took place before the New Year holiday. I was impressed with the attention to detail Backman was able to portray, not necessarily in backdrops of locations but between the different characters' thoughts/lifestyles throughout the piece. What I expected of an individual in the beginning was not relatable to what was uncovered/divulged to the reader towards the middle/end of the novel.

    This novel did follow the actions of a woman (not identified gender-wise until late into the novel) who chose to rob a bank in order to retrieve financial means to proceed with her divorce and the custody battle ensuing for her two children. What developed upon her inexperience in robbing a bank turned into babbling at individuals at an apartment showing, who assumed she'd decided to hold them hostage. So, the crime began! I appreciate following the father-and-son police duo. I think it brought an aspect of showing the two different generations of policemen, but also the different viewpoints of father versus son. A man who lived a lifetime already with just comfort in mind and a man who has nothing to lose but supposedly everything to gain. Every single character had either a revelation and/or significant tie to another that brought a full-circle resolution to what they were seeking out - whether they realized it originally or not.

    All in all, I'd give this novel 5/5 stars! I look forward to reading his next novel I snagged, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry.

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