My Friends
The unforgettable INSTANT Sunday Times Bestseller!
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- 14,99 €
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- 14,99 €
Publisher Description
The beautiful new novel that will make you laugh and cry, from the global bestselling author of Anxious People and A Man Called Ove. Fredrik Backman returns with an unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a complete stranger’s life twenty-five years later…
‘A stunning, sweeping, extraordinary story of connection, love, and the unbreakable bonds that guide and shape us. Full of humour and heart, My Friends is simply wonderful’ Chris Whitaker
* AN INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER *
* ONE OF GOODREADS READERS' MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2025 *
* A BARNES AND NOBLE NATIONAL BOOK CLUB PICK *
You have to take life for granted, the artist thinks, the whole thing: sunrises and slow Sunday mornings and
water balloons and another person’s breath against your neck. That’s the only courageous thing a person can do.
In the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world three tiny figures sit at the end of a pier. Most people don’t even notice them. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an aspiring artist herself, knows otherwise.
Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant seaside town, a group of teenagers seek refuge from their bruising home lives by spending long summer days together. They tell jokes, they share secrets, and they commit small acts of rebellion. These lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream, a reason to love.
Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be placed into 18-year-old Louisa’s care. Determined to learn how it came to be and to decide what to do with it, Louisa embarks on a cross-country journey. But the closer she gets to the painting’s birthplace, the more nervous she becomes.
In this stunning testament to the transformative, timeless power of friendship and art, Louisa is proof that happy endings don’t always take the form we expect.
Readers can't get enough of My Friends . . . (***** five star reviews)
'It was perfect. I have no other words to describe this masterpiece. Like, what the hell was I doing all these years??'
'I haven’t read a friendship story this genuine, heartfelt, clumsy, straightforward, smart, sentimental, shocking, and emotionally resonant in a very long time.'
'Is it too early in the year to pick my favourite read of 2025? I think not, as this will be hard to beat.'
'Backman remains my absolute favorite.'
'Absolutely brilliant and beautiful ... I loved, loved, loved this book.'
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
An old painting in the hands of a teenager unlocks a messy and complex world of entangled relationships, written in Fredrik Backman’s signature funny and moving style. The title of this book is a simple one, but those two words—My Friends—likewise unlock a past filled with detailed characters and complicated connections that feel all too familiar. There are no easy answers or bow-wrapped resolutions here; instead, Backman gives us a real, raw and poetic look at all the things that can happen over the course of a single summer when you’re young.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Backman (The Winner) delivers a wistful story about the power of friendships. The day before her 18th birthday, Louisa sneaks into an auction house to see The One of the Sea, the first painting by a famous artist who goes by C. Jat. After a guard chases her out, she has a brief encounter in the alley with the artist, whom she initially mistakes for a homeless person. The painter, whose real name is revealed later in the story, has been dealing with a long illness, and just before he dies, he tasks his friend Ted, one of four boys depicted in the 25-year-old painting, with tracking down Louisa to gift it to her. Louisa has just aged out of foster care and is reeling from the recent death of her close friend from an overdose. Though she worries she's not capable of taking responsibility for the painting, she finds comfort in the story Ted tells her of the summer the painting was made, when the friends were 14 and they were all dealing with upheaval. Ted's father had died that summer, and the artist's unstable single mother was urging him to "just try to be normal." Louisa and Ted's interactions feel genuine, which makes the effect of his story on her all the more moving. The author is at the top of his game.
