Book Recommendation: My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry

“Having a grandmother is like having an army. This is a grandchild’s ultimate privilege: knowing that someone is on your side, always, whatever the details. Even when you are wrong. Especially then, in fact. A grandmother is both a sword and a shield.” – Fredrik Backman

After reading Backman’s Anxious People, many people who were already familiar with his books began to chime in with other suggestions for me. A Man Called Ove is certainly on my list, but as I began to search for other books by him, this title really struck me. Once I read the synopsis, I knew that this was my next read.

From Goodreads:

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.

There were so many things about this book that I enjoyed. First, there was the special relationship between Elsa and her grandma. The adventures that they went on, the things that her Granny said, and the genuine love they had for each other brought so many chuckles and smiles.

Next, I loved that Granny shared “fairy tales” and “stories” with Elsa. The imagination factor was so prominent. The special places that they talked about, the various “creatures” that they both encountered and talked about, and how all of those things all tied into real life made the story deep and satisfying.

The fact that Elsa is different stood out to me as well. Gosh, do I remember that feeling, especially when I had moved to a new school with new people. I remember feeling so out of place. No doubt, countless children feel this same way in school, even among people that they have known for a long time.

The characters in the book all have distinct personalities. You get to know them all very well right from the start. As the story progresses and Elsa begins her journey with grandma’s letters, we learn more about each character and their backstories. It is then that the reader begins to see the similarities between the “make believe” and the “real” worlds.

Much like in his book, Anxious People, there were times that I would read something and it would hit me like a ton of bricks. For example:

“People in the real world always say, when something terrible happens, that the sadness and loss and aching pain of the heart will “lessen as time passes,” but it isn’t true. Sorrow and loss are constant, but if we all had to go through our whole lives carrying them the whole time, we wouldn’t be able to stand it. The sadness would paralyze us. So in the end we just pack it into bags and find somewhere to leave it.”

or

“Death’s greatest power is not that it can make people die, but that it can make people want to stop living.”

or

“A funeral can go on for weeks, because few events in life are a better opportunity to tell stories. Admittedly on the first day it’s mainly stories about sorrow and loss, but gradually as the days and nights pass, they transform into the sorts of stories that you can’t tell without bursting out laughing. They laugh until no one can forget that this is what we leave behind when we go: the laughs.”

While there are plenty of poignant moments in the book, there are also plenty of moments that made me laugh. This seems to be what Backman does best – make you FEEL something. I say that because (as I have said in the past) when you make someone feel something (any emotion) than you have entertained them. THAT is the ultimate goal. Fredrik Backman does this VERY well.

I listened to the audiobook and loved it. Whether you read it or listen to it, I think you will enjoy it.