Book Review: “Anxious People”

Marlita Walker Reviews ANXIOUS PEOPLE

By Fredrik Backman

“A bank robbery. A hostage drama. A stairwell full of police officers on their way to storm an apartment. It was easy to get to this point, much easier than you might think. All it took was one single really bad idea.”

And so begins the comedic mystery of the latest Fredrik Backman novel. I am a fan of Backman’s development of characters, the way he makes me actually empathize with the most despicable characters, and he unshutters my eyes to see beneath the surface of what makes people tick.

To help paint this initial picture of Backman’s work, I’ll start when I was first introduced to it, several years ago. During a long road trip, I listened to his audiobook, “A Man Called Ove,” that left me laughing out loud throughout most of it. Ove was such a grumpy old man, who said the most outrageous things. But I found myself in tears at the end because I could so easily identify with Ove’s deep hurts. Backman’s art painted Ove so one could overlook his crusty exterior and fall in love with him. On any given day, we brush elbows or exchange greetings with people we really don’t know. The surly clerk at the local grocery store may have a daughter dealing with addictions. The new couple at church may have just come through a huge financial loss. On your daily neighborhood walk, you conscientiously greet the older resident who walks her dog, not realizing that the dog is her only friend in this increasingly lonely world. Could the unfriendly teenager who doesn’t meet your gaze be facing intense insecurity, just longing for a friend? And the handsome young man who treats your unruly lawn might have a devastating divorce looming ahead. You never know.

It’s these kinds of strangers who are thrown together in Backman’s novel. The bank robber. The real estate agent. The bank executive. The pregnant couple. The retirees. The ninety-yearold. The actor. The father-son police officers. The witty banter and hilarity surrounding these characters in this hostage situation are all remarkably illustrated by Backman. Each character’s story comes to light and makes you question how it will end. Will their hidden life issues be resolved in the conclusion? Jack, the younger police officer in the story, asks his minister mom how she could bear to sit beside people when they were dying in their final hours without being able to save them. She tightly holds his hand and says, “ We can’t change the world, and a lot of the time, we can’t even change people—no more than one bit at a time. So we do what we can to help whenever we get the chance, sweetheart. We save those we can. We do our best. Then we try to find a way to convince ourselves that that will just have to...be enough. So we can live with our failures without drowning.”

Nine strangers reached out to help because they were given the chance—a satisfying ending.

Marlita Walker

Marlita is a native Michigander, who returned back to the area after 18 years spent in IL & PA. When not on cruising adventures with her hubby in their vintage Roadtrek camper van; she relaxes by re-arranging her home decor, walking with friends, and connecting with her 10 grands who live in TN and CA. Read more book reviews at litaslines.blogspot.com.