My grandmother asked me to tell you she's sorry : a novel

by Fredrik Backman

Other authorsHenning Koch (Translator.)
Paper Book, 2015

Status

Available

Call number

Fiction Backman

Barcode

10537

Publication

New York : Atria Books, 2015.

Description

Fiction. Literature. Humor (Fiction.) HTML: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.… (more)

Media reviews

A contemporary fairy tale from the whimsical author of A Man Called Ove (2014)...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,
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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.
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Awards

Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 2017)
LibraryReads (Monthly Pick — June 2015)

Language

Original language

Swedish

Original publication date

2013

ISBN

9781501115066
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