“It’s always very easy to declare that other people are idiots, but only if you forget how idiotically difficult being human is.”
One man’s suicide has a ripple affect on almost a dozen people ten years later. There’s the young man who tried to save him but couldn’t who grew up to be a police officer. There’s the teenager who saw the article and tried to attempt the same but was saved. There’s the witness to that event. Then, there’s the bank robber who is just a hopeless single mother, but has to communicate with that grown police officer and his father. Anxious People revolves around the people who were at an apartment showing when the bank robber was trying to escape and found his way to that apartment, technically creating a hostage situation.
I have enjoyed several of Backman’s books and have had his most recent release, Anxious People, on my library hold list for several months. I started with A Man Called Ove and have also read Beartown and Britt-Marie Was Here. His books tend to have vivid characters who have unique views of the world.
Anxious People follows the lives of several characters during the hostage situation, but also does flashbacks of their lives. While there are quite a few characters, the plot is easy to follow. In the end, there are a few surprises and the readers find out how all the characters are tied together. The message is one of compassion overcoming loneliness by people connecting with each other.
Anxious People is book for those readers who enjoy fiction stories that take you away and give you glimpses into other people’s lives. It would be a great book club book as it addresses some interesting social topics.
Take the time to connect with the people in your life. You never know what is truly going on in their lives and how much of a difference that connection can make.
Who are some of your go-to authors? Share in the comments!