Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller A People Book of the Week, Book of the Month Club selection, and Best of Fall in Good Housekeeping, PopSugar, The Washington Post, New York Post, Shondaland, CNN, and more! “[A] quirky, big-hearted novel…Wry, wise, and often laugh-out-loud funny, it’s a wholly original story that delivers pure pleasure.” –People From the #1 New York Times bestselling … wholly original story that delivers pure pleasure.” —People
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove comes a charming, poignant novel about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined.
Looking at real estate isn’t usually a life-or-death situation, but an apartment open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage. The captives include a recently retired couple who relentlessly hunt down fixer-uppers to avoid the painful truth that they can’t fix their own marriage. There’s a wealthy bank director who has been too busy to care about anyone else and a young couple who are about to have their first child but can’t seem to agree on anything, from where they want to live to how they met in the first place. Add to the mix an eighty-seven-year-old woman who has lived long enough not to be afraid of someone waving a gun in her face, a flustered but still-ready-to-make-a-deal real estate agent, and a mystery man who has locked himself in the apartment’s only bathroom, and you’ve got the worst group of hostages in the world.
Each of them carries a lifetime of grievances, hurts, secrets, and passions that are ready to boil over. None of them is entirely who they appear to be. And all of them–the bank robber included–desperately crave some sort of rescue. As the authorities and the media surround the premises these reluctant allies will reveal surprising truths about themselves and set in motion a chain of events so unexpected that even they can hardly explain what happens next.
Rich with Fredrik Backman’s “pitch-perfect dialogue and an unparalleled understanding of human nature” (Shelf Awareness), Anxious People is an ingeniously constructed story about the enduring power of friendship, forgiveness, and hope–the things that save us, even in the most anxious times.
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After reading about 50 pages of Anxious People I realized that I didn’t like most of the characters and everybody seemed rude and horrible. And then the magic happened (not literal magic – this isn’t a fantasy book). I’m not sure how the author managed it but by the end of the novel you love almost every flawed, very human character.
This book was so heartwarming!
It’s witty, thoughtful, intricately written, and all in all it easily earned its spot in my all-time-favorites shelf. I liked A Man Called Ove, but I absolutely adored Anxious People. I know that I will be recommended this book to many others!
Found the writing disjointed and hard to follow. My mind often wandered. However, I did like the ending and could see this book a s a play.
Wow, wow, wow!
Topsy, turvy and twisty! I loved it! At times deeply moving, other times wildly amusing. This is a great book!
All about love in its different expressions, kindness, and the interconnectedness of the most unlikely characters. The beginning is a little slow, but once it takes off, it’s hard to put down. I read a lot of books and this is the best I’ve read in the last year.
I love this story. It weaves through the lives of people who are thrown together in the most stressful of situations.
“This story is about a lot of things, but mostly about idiots.”
And with that begins the story of a bank robbery, a hostage drama and an examination of friendship, forgiveness and hope all told in a manner that will make you both laugh and cry.
This was my first book by Backman but it will definitely not be my last!
In short, I absolutely LOVED it!
Anxious People would make an ideal stage play. It plays out in limited settings, mostly in an apartment, has witty dialogue, and its themes of loneliness and isolation in society fit well onto the classical stage. Also works as a novel, though the ending dragged, I’m afraid. I preferred Beartown… definitely not suited for stage. But I hear it’s movie material.
You come into contact with a variety of strangers every day, but you never get a glimpse of the trials and hardships lingering behind each smile and frown. An excellent story that gives the reader a glimpse into what drives people’s decisions both good and bad, and how far some people will go to hide their anxieties and insecurities.
Nothing like Ove.
I checked out this book because I thoroughly enjoyed A Man Called Ove. While this is a very different story, Fredrick Backman has great insight into what it means to be HUMAN. We humans are frail objects full of anxiety and desperation while never losing sight of hope. The setting of this story, a bank robbery gone wrong turned hostage drama, is an original setting and one that works well in terms of getting to know everyone’s background and history.
I highly recommend this as an audio book. The narrator does an excellent job with the different voices, the wit and the sarcasm.
Truly a treasure!
This book was a typical Blackman laugh-out-loud novel with well-developed characters who find themselves in the most unlikely predicament being held hostage at a real estate apartment open house. Yet Blackman manages to develop characters with depth as the Stockholm Syndrome takes hold making readers care what will happen to each one of them. Another great book!
I always forget how delightful Fredrik Backman’s books are. His characters are prickly, and not always easy to love, but there’s something charming about each of them.
This book isn’t as good as the author’s original “A Man Called Ove”. However after you get through the first half of the book, he develops the characters and it becomes rather humorous. He lets you get to know each and every one of the characters and intertwines them for a easy enjoyable read. Much like that original book.
When a failed bank robber bursts into an apartment open house in a small town in Sweden and takes hostages, each person harbors hurts and passions ready to burst out. Backman, the author of “A Man Called Ove,” has written an uplifting novel about friendship, forgiveness and hope with interesting, complex characters. Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
I can’t even find the right words to describe my thoughts on this book other than to say that Backman is a genius writer who really sees people. Amazing, full of life characters and a story that will tug at your heart strings. What’s right and wrong isn’t black and white, but a million shades of in between.
I have like several of this author’s books. This is no exception. The personalities, quirks, backgrounds and situations he puts them into is great. They’re discussions within the group of hostages, that aren’t really at risk by a bank robber who isn’t very adept. The police, and back story from long ago about a bridge, a suicide and almost suicide…adds to the story.
It may not be for everyone but I enjoyed this book…
It took me a while to get into this book. I so enjoyed A MAN NAMED OVE, but this one didn’t grab me right away. But I hung in there, and in the end, I was glad that I did. Backman has a wonderful way of using simple language to put the human condition into perspective. He plants nuggets of wisdom in his books that make my life feel richer. He brings together dissimilar people, and by the end of the books they’ve found common experience and emotions that bind them. So, for me, this turned out to be a valuable read.
Beautifully written, with characters that will make you laugh, but break your heart while they’re doing it.
I LOVED this book. So clever, funny, touching, unexpected and important.