Britt-Marie Was Here

Britt-Marie is an acquired taste. It's not that she's judgemental, or fussy, or difficult - she just expects things to be done in a certain way. A cutlery drawer should be arranged in the right order, for example (forks, knives, then spoons). We're not animals, are we?

But behind the pedantic, passive-aggressive busybody is a woman with imagination, bigger dreams and a warmer heart than anyone around her realizes.

So when Britt-Marie finds herself unemployed, separated from her husband of twenty years, left to fend for herself in the miserable provincial backwater of Borg - of which the kindest thing one can say is that it has a road going through it - and somehow tasked with running the local children's football team, she is a little unprepared.

Blending heartbreak and humour as only Fredrik Backman can, Britt-Marie Was Here is the finest novel yet by a modern master of storytelling.