My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

Notes From Your Bookseller If you loved A Man Called Ove, get ready for what might as well be referred to as the sibling book. This is the story of a unique little girl as she grapples with life, death, and the world that happens in between. A charming, warmhearted novel from the author of the New York Times bestseller A Man Called Ove. Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy-as in standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-strangers crazy. She is also Elsa's best, and only, friend. At night Elsa takes refuge in her grandmother's stories, in the Land-of-Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas, where everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal. When Elsa's grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has wronged, Elsa's greatest adventure begins. Her grandmother's instructions lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and old crones but also to the truth about fairy tales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other. My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry is told with the same comic accuracy and beating heart as Fredrik Backman's bestselling debut novel, A Man Called Ove. It is a story about life and death and one of the most important human rights: the right to be different. Editorial Reviews Bring tissues when you start My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry, but bring your funnybone, too. It's that kind of book - one that, if you miss it, you'll never forgive yourself. - Business Insider I can't remember the last time that I read a book where I alternately cried and laughed, and sometimes both at the same time. - Shelf Awareness Every bit as churlish but lovable as Backman's cantankerous protagonist in his debut, A Man Called Ove (2014), precocious Elsa will easily work her way into the hearts of readers who like characters with spunk to spare. A delectable homage to the power of stories to comfort and heal, Backman's tender tale of the touching relationship between a grandmother and granddaughter is a tribute to the everlasting bonds of deep family ties. - Booklist (starred) An inspiring affirmation of love for life and acceptance of people for their essence and individual quirks. A Man Called Ove is a perfect selection for book clubs. It's well written and replete with universal concerns. It lacks violence and profanity, is life-affirming and relationship-driven. The book is bittersweet, tender, often wickedly humorous and almost certain to elicit tears. I contentedly wept my way through a box of tissues when I first read the novel and again when I savored it for a second time. - BookBrowse.com There are characters who amuse us, and stories that touch us. But this character and his story do even more: A Man Called Ove makes us think about who we are and how we want to live our lives. A Man Called Ove seems deceptively simple at the start, yet Frederik Backman packs a lifetime's worth of hilarity and heartbreak into this novel. Even the most crusty curmudgeon will love Ove! - Lois Leveen Fredrik Backman has a knack for weaving tales that are believable and fanciful. Backman's smooth storytelling infuses his characters with charm and wit... a delightful story. - St. Louis Post-Dispatch A Man Called Ove is exquisite. The lyrical language is the confetti thrown liberally throughout this celebration-of-life story, adding sparkle and color to an already spectacular party. Backman's characters feel so authentic that readers will likely find analogues living in their own neighborhoods. - Shelf Awareness (starred review) What I admire in Backman's stories is his honesty and perspective about grief and losing those we love the most. I would recommend this book to Neil Gaiman fans, as the storytelling is fantastic and heartwarming. - Sun-Gazette I can't remember the last time that I read a book where I alternately cried and laughed, and sometimes both at the same time. - Marilyn Dahl Praise for A MAN CALLED OVE: A charming debut...You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll feel new sympathy for the curmudgeons in your life. You'll also want to move to Scandinavia, where everything's cuter. - People One of the most moving novels I have read this year. I defy anyone to read this book and look at a quiet withdrawn person the same way ever again. - Cayacosta Reviews Readers seeking feel-good tales with a message will rave about the rantings of this solitary old man with a singular outlook. If there was an award for 'Most Charming Book of the Year,' this first novel by a Swedish blogger-turned-overnight-sensation would win hands down. - Starred Review Booklist Bring tissues when you start My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry, but bring your funnybone, too. It's that kind of book - one that, if you miss it, you'll never forgive yourself. - Best Books of 2015 Business Insider Every bit as churlish but lovable as Backman's cantankerous protagonist in his debut, A Man Called Ove (2014), precocious Elsa will easily work her way into the hearts of readers who like characters with spunk to spare. A delectable homage to the power of stories to comfort and heal, Backman's tender tale of the touching relationship between a grandmother and granddaughter is a tribute to the everlasting bonds of deep family ties. - Booklist Every bit as churlish but lovable as Backman's cantankerous protagonist in his debut, A Man Called Ove (2014), precocious Elsa will easily work her way into the hearts of readers who like characters with spunk to spare. A delectable homage to the power of stories to comfort and heal, Backman's tender tale of the touching relationship between a grandmother and granddaughter is a tribute to the everlasting bonds of deep family ties. - Booklist 04/20/2015 Precocious Elsa, a sharp-witted seven-year-old, has only one friend, her protective, eccentric Granny, who tells her nightly bedtime fairy tales in their small apartment in the Land of Almost-Awake. But when cancer takes Granny away, Elsa is tasked with delivering her grandmother's final letters of apology to the other residents of the building--The Monster, a hulking, quiet germaphobe; Alf, a tough-talking, curmudgeonly cabbie; Britt-Marie, the nervous wife of a businessman; and others--whom she feels she mistreated during her life. Elsa proceeds through her quest, yet as she gets to know her neighbors, she discovers they all share traits and histories with characters from Granny's fairy tales. As her two worlds collide, Elsa, along with her new compatriots (including a giant dog known as a wurse), soon realize their home is actually the Land of Almost-Awake's castle, and that it needs protection from a dragon who is poised to strike. In his second offering, Backman (A Man Called Ove) continues to write with the same whimsical charm and warm heart as in his debut. Though it's certainly entertaining, Elsa's narrative--with several subplots to juggle and an overabundance of quirkiness--doesn't succeed quite as well as Backman's previous work. Still, fans of the author will find more to like here. (June) - Publishers Weekly An eclectic cast of characters, fairy-tale wisdom, and a little mystery... one of our favorite novels of the year so far. - SFGate.com 06/15/2015 Precocious seven-year-old Elsa and her feisty grandmother have been inseparable her whole life, bonding over stories set in the fairy-tale-influenced Land of Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas. Yet, it's when Granny passes away that the true adventures begin. Elsa is sent on a scavenger hunt involving letters of apology from Granny to various people she wronged throughout her life. Along the way, Elsa discovers not only a unique new support system but the magic and heroism that daily life can hold. Backman (A Man Called Ove) weaves an intricate story line in which childhood folklore and life experiences fuse in unexpected ways. While the complexities of Miamas can be overwhelming, particularly at the beginning, the novel shines once Elsa's quest begins and the ties between the stories and Granny's life are revealed. VERDICT Full of heart, hope, forgiveness, and the embracing of differences, Elsa's story is one that sticks with you long after you've turned the last page. Recommended for Backman fans and readers who appreciate the power of a well-crafted fairy tale. [See Prepub Alert, 2/2/15; a June LibraryReads pick.]--Katie Lawrence, Chicago - Library Journal Backman's stunning tribute to life, death, and fairy tales chronicles the story of Elsa, a 7-year-old tasked with delivering apology letters for her grandmother after her death. Joan Walker narrates this delightful novel with a perfect balance of reverence and playfulness, bringing out Backman's wonderfully authentic child's-eye perspective as well as his heartwarming humor. The story is populated with a rainbow of eccentric characters, and Walker provides each a distinct persona. Sadly, Elsa's dialogue is disappointing-often Walker sounds as though she's overreaching for a childlike pitch instead of expressing Elsa's character. This small glitch aside, the audiobook is utterly enchanting, a must for anyone who appreciates a good story. J.F. AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine - AUGUST 2015 - AudioFile Backman's stunning tribute to life, death, and fairy tales chronicles the story of Elsa, a 7-year-old tasked with delivering apology letters for her grandmother after her death. Joan Walker narrates this delightful novel with a perfect balance of reverence and playfulness, bringing out Backman's wonderfully authentic child's-eye perspective as well as his heartwarming humor. The story is populated with a rainbow of eccentric characters, and Walker provides each a distinct persona. Sadly, Elsa's dialogue is disappointing-often Walker sounds as though she's overreaching for a childlike pitch instead of expressing Elsa's character. This small glitch aside, the audiobook is utterly enchanting, a must for anyone who appreciates a good story. J.F. AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine - AUGUST 2015 - AudioFile 2015-04-15 A contemporary fairy tale from the whimsical author of A Man Called Ove (2014). Elsa is almost 8, and her granny is her best--and only--friend. Elsa's precociousness and her granny's disregard for societal rules mark them as trouble to most people they encounter and make Elsa a pariah at school. But every night she can journey with her granny to the Land-of-Almost-Awake, made of six kingdoms, each with its own strength, purpose, and interlocking mythologies that Elsa knows by heart. In the Land-of-Almost-Awake, Elsa doesn't have to worry about how she fits in at school, in the apartment building full of misfits where she lives, or in her family, where both her parents are divorced and remarried and her mother is pregnant. When granny passes away with very little notice, Elsa is bereft. And angry. So angry that it's almost no consolation that Elsa's granny has left her a treasure hunt. But the hunt reveals that each misfit in her apartment building has a connection to her granny, and they all have a story reflected in the Land-of-Almost-Awake. Neither world is short on adventure, tragedy, or danger. This is a more complex tale than Backman's debut, and it is intricately, if not impeccably, woven. The third-person narrative voice, when aligned with Elsa's perspective, reveals heartfelt, innocent observations, but when moving toward omniscience, it can read as too clever by half. Given a choice, Backman seems more likely to choose poignancy over logic; luckily, the choice is not often necessary. As in A Man Called Ove, there are clear themes here, nominally: the importance of stories; the honesty of children; and the obtuseness of most adults, putting him firmly in league with the likes of Roald Dahl and Neil Gaiman. A touching, sometimes-funny, often wise portrait of grief. - Kirkus Reviews