Fredrik Backman’s books seem to be popping up on bookstores’ shelves left and right. From his debut novel “A Man Called Ove” to his most recent novella “And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer,” the Swedish author has done what few others can achieve: international, popular acclaim.
His sophomore novel, “My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry,” was a moving tribute to what it means to grow up and realize the adults around you are whole people that must be taken as they are—for better or for worse.
“My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry,” published in 2013, is told through the voice of 7-year-old Elsa. Elsa is an endearing know-it-all who is bullied at school and feels isolated at home. Her best friend, her grandmother, is 77 and both utterly crazy and completely admirable.
The two share secrets, stories and adventures that remind the reader that imagination is not only a necessary escape for children, but also for adults. When Elsa’s grandmother dies, however, even imagination cannot wholly heal her—something her grandmother anticipated.
While Elsa’s grandmother may be crazy to the outside, she understands that life is and will be hard for Elsa, and she wants to make sure Elsa has all the tools to be happy, even after she is gone.
So, from beyond the grave, Elsa’s grandmother takes her on an adventure to deliver letters apologizing for the wrongs she had committed. It is a journey readers will not be able to pull away from.
Elsa is at times too self-aware and lonely for a 7-year-old – feeling as though there is neither a place for her with her father and his new family nor with her mother and hers – and beautifully naïve – she names cars after what she knows about them, like “Kia” and “Taxi.”
Backman excels at the slow build, creating several “Aha!” moments as Elsa learns more and more about who her grandmother really was, making friends and creating a community of characters just as diverse and different as herself, along the way.
This is not a book about embracing individuality, Elsa is already entirely comfortable with who she is, but accepting and even celebrating the flaws of those around you.
“My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry” will make you laugh and it might even make you cry, but mostly it will remind you that having an imaginative, open mind will take you far.
