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Published in USA
Jun 2015
384 pages
Genre: Novels
Publication Information
From the author of the internationally bestselling A Man Called Ove, a charming, warmhearted novel about a young girl whose grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters, sending her on a journey that brings to life the world of her grandmother's fairy tales.
Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy, standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-men-who-want-to-talk-about-Jesus-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 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 letters lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and totally ordinary old crones, but also to the truth about fairytales 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 internationally bestselling debut novel, A Man Called Ove. It is a story about life and death and an ode to one of the most important human rights: the right to be different.
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Some of the recent comments posted about My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry:
A Man Called Ove
I immediately saw similarities between the two books. Both began very slowly and then take off. There was an Audi in each book. Ove lived in a subdivision or condo type of residence and Elsa lived in an apartment type house. Ove and Granny were ... - dianaps
Do you agree that it is important that children have heroes? Who were your heroes when you were a child?
I think the word hero has been misused in so many ways that I kind of cringe when I hear it now. I do think children need to have something to believe it. Something beyond the here and now and the mundane and the hurt. Fairy tales are not a bad ... - dianaps
Do you think Britt-Marie and Kent were well suited? Do you think that the marriage changed Britt-Marie? How can being in a bad relationship affect someone's personality?
They were not well-suited; Britt-Marie realized that too late. Thank goodness it was not too late for her to embark on a life without Kent--hopefully happiness will be hers to enjoy. - MarieA
Do you think the different reactions to Granny, and opinions of her, are justified? What did you think of Granny? Do you know anyone like her?
Granny knew what she was doing. To her, her purpose in life was to take care of and protect Elsa and that's exactly what she did. I loved her character and I was fortunate enough to have a blue haired motorcycle riding granny of my own!! - dianaps
Do you think the non-traditional setting Elsa's mother grew up in influenced her parenting style? If so in what ways?
I think Elsa's mom was doing the best she could. She was trying not to consciously make the mistakes her mother made. It was also a bit difficult for her to dead with Granny being Granny! - dianaps
"Starred Review. A delectable homage to the power of stories to comfort and heal, Backman's tender tale of the touching relationship between a grandmother and granddaughter is a tribute to the everlasting bonds of deep family ties." Booklist
"Firmly in league with Roald Dahl and Neil Gaiman. A touching, sometimes funny, often wise portrait of grief." - Kirkus
"In his second offering, Backman (A Man Called Ove) continues to write with the same whimsical charm and warm heart as in his debut." - Publishers Weekly
The information about My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry shown above was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's online-magazine that keeps our members abreast of notable and high-profile books publishing in the coming weeks. In most cases, the reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author of this book and feel that the reviews shown do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, please send us a message with the mainstream media reviews that you would like to see added.
Fredrik Backman is a Swedish author, blogger and columnist. He is the author of a work of nonfiction, Things My Son Needs to Know About Life, and a number of novels including A Man Called Ove, his first novel. Ove has sold more than 2.8 million copies worldwide, making it one of Sweden's most popular literary exports since Stieg Larsson's thriller The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - not bad for a book that was initially ignored or rejected by publishers including one memorable response that reads, "we like your novel, we think your writing has potential, but we see no commercial potential."
Link to Fredrik Backman's Website
Name Pronunciation
Fredrik Backman: Fred-rick Bock-men
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