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
Just a light fun read.
I loved the characters in this book. It sometimes felt heavy with fantasy tales, but all came to gather in the end.
Enchanting story. Up lifting.
Don’t read this if you are emotional, because you will cry!! Excellent!
An amazing book; if only we all were so aware at such a young age, but I have to say I think Grannie needed some help! Didn’t want the story to end…
The question on finishing this book is not if I will reread it but how soon I will read it again. Of the hundred or so books I read a year I am always looking for the ones I can recommend, this is one.
Interesting take on life in a Swedish apartment building.
Such a beautiful book! As a daughter, granddaughter, parent, grandmother, and, I hope, friend, the story touched my heart countless times. I smiled, laughed, choked up, had tears running down my cheeks, laughed and cried simultaneously — ouf! I listened to the audio book. Joan Walker’s narration is perfect, her timing just right. Now, I want the kindle version. It’s just that wonderful a book. Thank you, Mr. Backman. Oh, and would you please, please create a separate book about the Land of Almost Awake and the Kingdom of Miamis? So that we might read it over and over again to the children in our lives…
Having read “A Man Called Ove” which I rated 5 stars, this story merits 6! To quote from the story, “There’s nothing wrong with being different. Granny said that only different people change the world” is not only telling but the theme that drives the story. Backman has created a story that evokes introspection, hilarity and joy as told through the eyes of Elsa, an almost-eight going on 40 child. This is one of the most unique approaches to storytelling I’ve encountered and in my opinion, is what great stories are about. Heart warming, funny and thought provoking, the author’s creative character development, content and fairytale use of metaphor is unique in all respects. I often found myself laughing out loud, thinking and wondering about life and if I was truly different enough to change the world. The author paints a picture of humanity, complete with its eccentricities, diversity and secrets that often lead to enlightenment. Engaging at a deep level, this book should be at the top of everyone’s list!
Story was slow and characters were had to follow. I read for Bookclub other wise I would probably not finished. I loss interest several time and had to push to finish. It seemed to be just putting a twist on some teen books that had previously been written.
Bring tissues when you start My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, but bring your funnybone, too. It’s that kind of book – one that, if you miss it, you’ll never forgive yourself.
I loved this story! The story line is a little weird, but at the end it reminded me of my own grandmother. A must read.
This was an unpredictable and fun read
Unique, funny, heartwarming, and definitely memorable, as well as one of the best novels I’ve read simply because of its unique nature. I also loved Elsa–not only because of her obsessive desire to correct grammatically incorrect signs–but because she was so witty and outspoken. Who wouldn’t love a child like that? And of course, Granny and Elsa’s relationship was heart-tugging and funny all at the same time. The fairy-tale kingdoms were a bit difficult to keep track of (I’m certain Backman had to have an outline to help him keep it straight while he was creating this masterpiece), but the entire concept of this story is brilliant.
That being said, this wasn’t a sit-down-and-read-in-one-sitting type of book for me, but it’s the kind of story that stays with you for a very long time, one that I’ll read and re-read again and again, but possibly not as much as Elsa has read the Harry Potter series.
This book made me laugh and cry and then laugh again! Touching, magical and full of everything that makes a book terrific! I’ve read it twice and want to read it again!
I loved how the author deals with grief and loss through the eyes of a child. Using a fantasy story the grandmother tells the granddaughter about each tenants life history. Each character’s life is intertwined with each other in one form or another. Backman does not disappoint with this novel.
Wow and wow again! This is such a magnificent book that I didn’t want it to end. At first, it was a little difficult to ‘get into’ the different ‘worlds’ of Granny and Elsa, but after a while, you wanted more, more and more. This book is about life, death, grief, anger, laughter, a dog, and a little girl who is different. But she is so much more than different, she’s a superhero. So intelligent and intuitive for a seven almost eight year old. You will cry, gasp, laugh, cry and cheer…oh and cry some more. It’s a happy book; it’s a sad book. But most of all it’s a GREAT book. Made me look at myself and how I see the world and the people in it much differently. I will definitely read more of Backman’s books. Thank you.
For everyone who has ever had a beloved, slightly kookie grandmother and for all the eccentric grams out there…this is a delightful listen. Joan Walker does a beautiful job of narrating Fredrik Backman’s quirky tale.
My rating is 4.5 stars. I reserve 5 stars for those books that I will reread, and this is almost 5. It’s kind of….magical.
First, let’s talk about the fantasy. It’s not my genre, never has been. Even as a child, I was unable to read or watch Alice in Wonderland. All the fantasy seemed silly and contrived. That’s not to say I didn’t have imagination, because I loved Peter Pan and read all the original Grimm’s Fairy Tales (yes, the dark versions, I’m really that old). But the story needs to be just that, a story. Preferably with a moral. This book is kind of in the style of Big Fish, in that the fairy tales are illustrative of real life, told in a way that a 7 year old can process it and deal with it, instead of letting in the real truth that people are sometimes not what a 7 year old wants or needs. Sometimes there are criminals, divorces, rivalries, injustices, bullies, loneliness, death. For a little girl, especially a smart, well-read little girl, the world is a little easier to accept in terms of magical kingdoms, monsters, castles, dragons and the like.
There are a lot of lessons in the book, and the characters grow and become wiser and richer in their souls. I have no idea how a grown man manages to write as a 7-almost 8-year old girl, but he does it really well. Elsa has a lot of depth, and it’s best shown in her maturity levels–at times overdeveloped from having a 77-year old sassy doctor as her closest companion, and at other times completely in her own childhood as a shy, Harry Potter-obsessed internet surfing product of a broken home.
This is the first Fredrik Backman book I’ve read, and I MUST try others. I have a feeling he may become one of my favorite authors.
Of all Backman’s books, this one is my favorite. A little girl, her kooky grandmother, and fairy tales coming to life make this story more magical than other novels by this author. Beautiful prose, an excellent translation.