BookLife Review: My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry, by Fredrik Backman
refugees, community, grandmother, fairy tales, dog
Fans of Swedish author Fredrik Backman (@backmansk), (A Man Called Ove, Anxious People, Beartown and more) are in for another treat with My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry.
Elsa is a precocious, vocabulary-loving, 7-almost-8 year-old largely in the care of her retired, international rescue surgeon grandmother. Granny is a collector of tragedy-stricken and at-risk victims and a weaver of fairy tales. Granny is magic and chaos. Her daughter and Elsa's mom, Ulrika, is an efficient, orderly hospital administrator who was left quasi-orphaned after her father died when she was 12 and her mother continued to travel the world on medical rescue missions. Granny only grounded herself when her granddaughter was born and her single daughter needed help.
The story unfolds as Elsa is sent on a scavenger hunt of sorts designed by Granny to acquaint Elsa with the odd collection of Granny's people housed in their apartment building. The residents’ connections to Granny draw them together around young Elsa to fend off a dark threat and real danger. Elsa is accompanied by a large black dog (also hidden away by Granny).
The fairy tales underpinning the story are perhaps unnecessarily complex and become a bit distracting to the narrative flow. As a device they are clever, but in the narrative the are a bit obtuse. Nonetheless, Backman creates a charming cast of eccentric characters that together create an oddball but loving community. The book is light-hearted, quirky and captivating. Backman may be an acquired taste, but one that can hit the spot like only your favorite comfort food can do.