Anxious People by Fredrik Backman ~ Book Review

During a real estate open house in an apartment on New Year's Eve Day the lives of various strangers are about to intersect and change.  A bank robber enters and takes them hostage.  What is a bank robber doing at an open house in the first place?  And how do the lives of a retired couple, a real estate agent, a wealthy banker, a young couple about to have a baby and two police officers all connect?  Each of them has a past they are trying to hide from and the perfect storm has brought them together to make them face the truth about themselves.  They become unlikely allies in a bizarre situation that will change their lives forever.  

This was a very different story.  It is translated from a Scandanavian language and set in Sweden.  It is a bit of complicated storytelling mostly done through conversation.  As the author starts to lay the story out I must admit I found it a bit confusing but pressed on knowing that he would bring it together somehow.   Some of the story is laid out in the interrogation of the police of these individuals.  At times the confusion and the seemingly bumbling cop trope made my eyes roll while occasionally giving me a laugh  but by the last chapters of the book I had tears in my eyes.  Backman has a knack for delving into human hearts, fears and actions that is uncanny making his characters relatable.  It is ultimately a story of lost and found hope, connection, friendship and forgiveness.

I gave it a 9/10

Reading Challenge Goal Met:  September Prompt - A Translated Book