Book Review by Ahmad Fattahipour
Fredrik Backman is a Swedish columnist, blogger, and writer. He is the author of A Man Called Ove (2012), My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She Was Sorry (2013), Britt-Marie Was Here (2014), Beartown (2017), and Us Against You (2018). These novels were number one best sellers in his native Sweden. They have been published around the world in more than twenty-five languages.
Born in 1981, Backman grew up in Helsingborg. He has written for Helsingborgs Dagblad and Moore Magazine, but debuted as a novelist in 2012 with A Man Called Ove. It was adapted as a film with the same title and it premiered on December 25, 2015. The rights to Backman’s book Beartown were bought by a Swedish production company named Filmlance and the book will be adapted for television.
Britt-Marie has always been different from others since her childhood and indifferent to what others wanted her to be or to do. She is morally strong and fastidious. She is not judgmental. She is only concerned about her own life. She is self-absorbed.
Britt-Marie’s husband is a businessman. Although he flatters her all the time by showering her with compliments, he is actually cheating on her. When she finds out, she looks for employment and finds a temporary job in a nearby small town called Borg. Her job is at a recreation center. Children play soccer and need a trainer. Britt-Marie is not qualified for the job but her husband, Kent, helps her with it and she does get the job.
Kent, who criticizes a lot of people as “gangsters” mainly because of taxing issues, goes broke and leaves the town and his wife.
Britt-Marie seems to have an affair with a grown-up soccer player. A local policeman also gets interested in her, but the whole town is under renovation which makes her look for another place to live. Where will she go to live?
It is a good story. It is humorous, satirical, and educational.
