Anxious People
A Novel
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- 17,99 €
Publisher Description
An Atria book. Simon & Schuster has a great book for every reader.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Best-selling Swedish author Fredrik Backman (A Man Called Ove) delivers a delightful and funny crime caper. When a father-and-son team of police officers is called in to deescalate a bank heist turned hostage crisis, they’re aided by some of the quirkiest, least helpful eyewitnesses of all time. Backman’s story throws together a group of strangers who get to know each other really well under very odd circumstances. We were taken with every fascinating oddball in this bunch, from the weirdly detached bank manager to the bickering newlyweds—not to mention the small-town cops who have to google “how to handle a hostage situation.” As the chapters jump around in time, they reveal clues about the crime as well as enticing insights into each character’s offbeat personality. As funny and wise as a Nora Ephron or Nick Hornby novel, Anxious People is a great reminder of the hope we can give each other, even in the strangest times.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A diverse assortment of Swedes gets caught in an unlikely hostage situation in Backman's witty, lighthearted romp (after Us Against You). On the day before New Year's Eve, in a "not particularly large or noteworthy town," a desperate parent attempts to rob a bank in order to provide for two young children. After the police arrive, the amateur stickup artist flees and stumbles into an apartment's open house. The attendees, including a heavily pregnant, first-time home-buying lesbian couple; an apartment-flipping older couple; and Zara, an executive at another bank, become hostages. Meanwhile, father and son police officers Jim and Jack scramble into action. The appearance of a man wearing nothing but underwear and a bunny mask, hired by the flippers to sabotage the open house, adds to the drama. Backman layers the hostage scene with threads of backstory on Zara's regret for denying a loan to a man ten years earlier, along with developments in Jack and Jim's investigation. While the prose is chockablock with odd metaphors ("Our hearts are bars of soap that we keep losing hold of") and a plot twist leans on societal assumptions, Backman charms with his empathetic description of the robber, who gradually earns sympathy from the hostages. This amusing send-up of contemporary Swedish society is worth a look.
