Book Recommendation – Britt-Marie Was Here

Frederik Backman is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. His books are full of characters that you connect with. They are “real.” His books make me “feel,” if that makes sense. I find myself belly laughing out loud at times and holding back tears at other times.

Just this week I posted about the novella I read by Backman. You can read that here:

Book Recommendation – And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer

I believe the first book I read by him was Anxious People, which I simply loved. 

Book Recommendation: Anxious People

When I read My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, I was first introduced to the main character of today’s recommendation – Britt-Marie. You can read about that one here:

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

In the above story, Britt-Marie leaves her husband and drives off. Her story picks up in Backman’s follow up, Britt-Marie Was Here. I was intrigued to know what her story would be and I found this to be a delightful read. Again, there was laughter and moving moments. There was a whole lot more to Britt-Marie than I could have imagined.

Here is the Goodreads synopsis:

Britt-Marie can’t stand mess. A disorganized cutlery drawer ranks high on her list of unforgivable sins. She is not one to judge others—no matter how ill-mannered, unkempt, or morally suspect they might be. It’s just that sometimes people interpret her helpful suggestions as criticisms, which is certainly not her intention. But hidden inside the socially awkward, fussy busybody is a woman who has more imagination, bigger dreams, and a warmer heart that anyone around her realizes.

When Britt-Marie walks out on her cheating husband and has to fend for herself in the miserable backwater town of Borg—of which the kindest thing one can say is that it has a road going through it—she finds work as the caretaker of a soon-to-be demolished recreation center. The fastidious Britt-Marie soon finds herself being drawn into the daily doings of her fellow citizens, an odd assortment of miscreants, drunkards, layabouts. Most alarming of all, she’s given the impossible task of leading the supremely untalented children’s soccer team to victory. In this small town of misfits, can Britt-Marie find a place where she truly belongs?

The one thing that really stood out in this story was that you have Britt-Marie, fresh from leaving her husband in a rundown and dying community and they both really need each other. Despite the obstacles that are thrown in the paths of each of them, they both learn to persevere and compliment each other. Both experience change as the novel progresses and it will leave you wanting more.

In 2019, there was a movie made based on the book. I think you can see it on Amazon Prime, but I’m not sure I want to as the overall rating was 5 out of 10 stars. Probably proof again that the book is almost always better than the film adaptation.