Fredrik Backman is a Swedish author who wrote the book that one of my favorite movies of all time is based on. That movie is “A Man Called Otto” starring Tom Hanks. Of course, this is not a review of that movie, but this book brought me a lot of those same emotions that I felt while watching that incredible movie. Joy, sadness, laughter, tears, all wrapped in 432 pages.
“Beartown” is an incredible novel. Backman is able to capture the essence of small town life from the get go. Even though it is set in Sweden and translated into English, it’s like I was transported back to Holdrege, NE except instead of football, this town loves hockey. We all have stories from our small town experience that even all these years later, don’t quite sit right with us. For me, it was when a couple cheerleaders and the one black kid got MIP’d but the quarterback got away from the party with nothing in the papers. I felt like I was thrown back into that talk of the town while reading this book.
“Beartown” takes on a much more serious topic (rape), and that’s why it’s even more heartbreaking and heart warming all at the same time. This book is a story of a town trying to pretend its better than it is and a few bold people actually doing what is right. Considering the subject matter, it’s a surprisingly easy read that will have you laughing, crying, and everything in between. This book can be a deep dive into what-would-you-do where you can really look inward and find out something more about yourself… or it can be a riveting story held at arms length and either way it shines.
5 out 5 stars.
