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 … 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
Wonderfully written; very engaging. The writer is a wordsmith with vivid, but not overused adjectives and metaphors
I absolutely loved this book. Very poignant, but very real. Characters that
One can identify with.
This was like no book I have ever read but I ended up really enjoying it
I loved this book! It’s told by a 7 year old girl about the world around her and her family.
Her grandmother tells her about a land of fantasy that is based on her neighbors. It’s both poignant and funny. A beautiful story!
Quirky. The child protagonist was a little too precocious to be “real”, but the story held my interest.
Backman never lets us down. I have stayed up late reading this quirky story. characters you won’t forget. Many plot twists. I won’t tell you the ending! Enjoy!
So many unrelated characters in the beginning that it was difficult to piece them back together in the end. His book, A Man Named Ove, was much better to me.
I loved this book! I laughed out loud throughout the book but also found moments of sadness at the same time. I found the characters wonderful and enjoyed learning about these unique people.
I fell in love with Elsa. A great story.
I am on the fence about this book: there is a fairy tale running through the narrative. I am a BIG fan of fairy tales, but some may not share my enthusiasm for the genre. I realized about 2/3 through the book that the fairy tales were necessary to tell the stories of characters whose lives were not as whimsical as I would have liked. Without the fairy tales, I’m not sure I would have been able to finish the book without depression settling upon me. I did enjoy most of the story and think the writer is very good. I have been told “Ove” is a good story and will have to read it before I decide how I truly feel about the author. I’m not sorry I read it, just wish it would have been a little more “happily-ever-after-quirky”.
Ridiculous
I would give this book a 5 star but I was too troubled by the dreadful diet they gave the dog. I had a hard time getting over that. Other than that…….the author spins a good tale with very quirky characters. Again, he brings a variety of unlikely people together and we get to know them as the story unfolds. It is certainly a worthwhile read except for the dog part.
I love this author and I loved this book.
Unlike a lot of whimsical stories I’ve read, this was truly one to keep on reading. The lives in this piece of art, are delightful and this beat any I’ve read so far …NICE JOB <3
I lost my heart to Emma. 7 years old and alone in the world, but assigned to a great task by her recently passed Grandma, Emma is one of those candles who burn brighter than all the rest.
I won’t give you a play-by-play accounting of Emma, only because I truly think that you will relish discovering it on your own. But do put this in your reading list because Emma is worthy of you, and you are worthy of Emma!
I did not expect to love this book, I simply hoped to find an original story. Wow, this book made me laugh, made me care about all the different characters, and surprised the shit out of me when it made me cry. Great and original story.
Interesting! Hard to follow the fantasy characters, but all is explained in the end. Worth following through on.
Enjoyable book told from the perspective of a seven year old girl. A bit unrealistic in that a seven year old would not have written in the manner of the book, and she was certainly not supervised well as she was allowed to wander by herself, even taking buses and going places with near-strangers. But the story was fun and interesting and the premise was unique.
Love this book! Well worth the read!!
This was a little hard to follow. But I enjoyed the story.