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
Written in the third person who is never identified. It is a wonderful book about people who just do not ever think they fit the norm. Grandmothers stories for her grandmother just suck you in knowing that it will all make sense by the end, however, it is done in an unexpected ending.
I had a tough times starting this book, but because it was written by the author of A Man Called Ove, I wanted to stick with it! After several chapters, the reading became easier. It has some very unusual characters! I’m glad I stuck with it!
Absolutely delightful and just what the world needs right this very minute: peace, love, healing, wisdom, forgiveness, redemption, fairy tales, super heroes, LOTR, HP, and Star Wars. Elsa is the brightest seven year old I have had the privilege to meet, which makes her a very reliable narrator/storyteller/protagonist. Watching events unfold through her eyes is a breath of fresh air. I don’t like to give things away so I will just add that this book is entertaining, diverting, a great bedtime read for kids and parents alike, one that will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you think.
I LOVED this story!! I have recommended it to my friends. I LOVE the characters. I couldn’t put the book down.It made me laugh, cry, think. This will become your new favorite!
Quirky, but not my favorite
I do not know how to rate this book – when I wasn’t completely bored by it, I loved it and therefore, I would rate it at 4 stars. Easily. Unfortunately, I was bored a lot. A LOT. And…I was a bit put off by Elsa at times. So then my rating drops to 2.5 – 3. And then, something magical would happen and I would laugh or cry or both and the rating would go back up. And the end absolutely propelled it to 4 stars. See the conundrum I am in?
I think that I am going to let this sit for a couple of days before I rate it – sometimes with a book you have a conundrum with, I find, you just need to sit with it and let it ruminate in your mind and all of the sudden *POOF*, just how you felt about it overall comes to mind and you can then shelve that book [metaphorically] and move on.
While not the strongest of the Backman books [and if you were like me and read Britt-Marie Was Here first and loved it but wondered about her and then read this and it made you think that you may or may not have read the sequel due to this book], it still is a good read. There ARE good parts. There are parts that are absolutely typical Backman – the cryyoureyesoutuntilyouwanttobarf Backman style and then there are parts that you are like “WHO THE FRICK WROTE THIS SECTION”. Again, the conundrum.
As I am sitting here writing this, I have to say I would still recommend this book. There are very powerful moments in this book – like hidden gems, they just pop out at you. And there are enough to make me recommend this book along with all his other books.
A note – Britt-Marie is a total and complete pill in this book. Absolutely. Bear with her until the end. Please. And then read her book. She is an amazing character whom I love very much – she is so much like I am and I just want people to give her a chance, even when she is at her most prickliest.
Great book
I loved it… And I’m really critical of books I read. The viewpoint was originally, the characters were alive and believable. I’ve already recommended it to many.
It took me a long time to get into it, but I enjoyed it. Glad I kept at it.
Quite a bit of profanity
I love the whimsy and the creativity of the author
Started out slow, but I grew to love the characters. I love how you got to know grandmother as a young person and why her daughter was the way she was.
Very different and surprisingly deep. Lots of meanings from a young girls perspective
Eccentric grandmother teaches precocious granddaughter about life and family through fairy tales. Good character development. Interesting plot twists. Very well written.
Great summertime read, intertaining throughout.
Great book
characters behaved oddly. Heroine, a 7 year old philosopher, analyzes life , and swears like a soldier. A 7 year old ??? I found it all not believable and detracted from the story.
loved this book. Had a hard time putting it down
Boring. Repetitive. Silly.
Thought provoking! Loved it!!