Review - 'Anxious People' by Fredrik Backman

Oh my, what an absolute gem this turned out to be! It's quintessential Backman: quirky, heartwarming, and uplifting.

On the surface, Anxious People is a story about a bank robbery gone wrong. The bank robber, having failed at robbing a bank, bursts upon an apartment viewing and proceeds to take a group of unfortunate strangers hostage. This group of mismatched folks, each with their secret fears and mistakes, slowly open their hearts to one another, and as a result, find their lives inexplicably changed for the better.

At its heart, this is a story that speaks to the humanity in all of us. No matter our backgrounds or experiences, we each have done the best we can with what we are given. We have messy feelings that go with our messy lives. We've made mistakes and all deserve second chances to redeem ourselves. That is what Backman has captured so deftly with his tale.

Reading this book feels like digging through a treasure trove, with wonderful surprises at every turn. There's even a little mystery in here, when the police tries to reconstruct what happened, and things don't seem as straightforward as they initially thought. The mystery is really a small part of the story, but even that is superbly done and managed to surprise and delight me.

Backman's writing style has always been quirky and his themes somewhat sentimental, but the two elements balance each other out, so that the quirkiness cuts through the cheesiness and helps to tone it down. The theme of this story, when you think about it, is really more sentimental than all the rest, so I found the writing to be even quirkier than his other books. I really enjoyed it, but I can see how this style wouldn't be for every reader or even every moment.

I appreciate that Backman tries to tackle complex and timely topics in his books, and he does so in such an uplifting way. Especially now, when we live in a world more divisive than it's ever been, this story reminds us that if we only take the time to get to know the other side, we'd realize we are more alike than we are different. In my opinion, it's an overly optimistic stance, but it's still healing to be able to escape into this imaginary, wonderful world, even if just for a few hours.

Readaroo Rating: 5 stars!