My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry
By Fredrik Backman
Adult Fiction
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman tells the story of Elsa (a seven-year-old who is almost eight), her Granny (she’s seventy-seven and, sadly, doesn’t reach seventy-eight), and the people who Granny feels the need to apologize to after her death. Elsa knows that nobody likes to be the only one who doesn’t know a secret, because then you feel like an idiot. But after Granny dies, Elsa isn’t so sure if she’s ready to learn the secrets of Granny’s past. As fairytales twist and mingle dangerously with reality, Elsa learns to make, protect, and forgive friends. She realizes sometimes good people do bad things, and bad people do good, but in the end we are all just people trying our best. So Elsa bravely follows along, surrounded by heroes. Because every seven-year-old deserves to have a superhero.
This novel, told partly in letters, catches readers’ interest right from chapter one. Who doesn’t want to know how the heck a granny lands in jail for throwing feces at the police? Readers who enjoy stories where seemingly unrelated details come into play in a larger picture will absolutely love this book. Backman does an exceptional job of transmitting human emotions that we all feel but rarely find written in books.
Book Review by Areli, Circulation
