BRITT-MARIE WAS HERE BY FREDRIK BACKMAN

credit: goodreads.com

Rating: 5 of 5 stars

As with most of his books, Fredrik Backman's Britt-Marie Was Here gave me all the feels. A departure from how I normally consume books, I listened to this one. I've read all of Backman's books with the exception of his latest book, Beartown, released this May. You can read my reviews of: A Man Called Ove, And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer, and My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell you She's Sorry - all on this blog.

This story starts out with Britt-Marie in search of a job, and ultimately a new life, after she learned that her husband of more than 40 years had cheated on her. Right after the financial crisis, the only job she is able to land is a temporary caretaker/house cleaner at a soon-to-be demolished recreation center in the pitiful town of Borg. While there, life happens to her. No matter how hard she tries to avoid it, she connects with people. A wheelchair-bound lady, named Somebody, Sven, the local police officer, Bank, a soccer legend with sight limitations, the delinquent - Sami, and a myriad of children who convince Britt-Marie to be their team's soccer coach. In this odd little town, we see that someone in her 60s can still come-of-age.

Similar to the Terry McMillan novel I read earlier this summer, we learn it's never too late to change the direction of your life by choosing ... you!

As I've mentioned before, the reason I enjoy Backman's stories is because of his beautifully-constructed prose. He takes simple themes that we've all read or seen and illustrates them in a very emotional, heart-tugging way. The main characters is most of his books are in their third act of life, but they are full of life and quite relatable. Britt-Marie is all of us, teaching us lessons that we can appreciate in any time in our life. Wanna get filled up and experience a variety of emotions from laughter to anger to sadness to joy? Read this book ... or any of Backman's novels.

Recommendation: This is a solid 5 stars out of 5 for me. I liked it a little more than Ove, and that was my book of 2016. My only caution is that this book has more profanity than the others. Don't let this dissuade you though. You'll find yourself wanting to visit Borg yourself!

Until next time ... Read on!