My Friends

"This is Fredrik Backman at the height of his empathy and resonance. It’s the story of a painting – its artist and its subjects – and the journey of a young woman to understand how it came to be. It’s also a deeply personal exploration of art, what we sacrifice of ourselves to bring beauty into the world and what we gain when others find a home within it. I frequently paused to marvel at the way Backman captured the rebellion of joy, the ferocity of devotion and the cruelty of indifference. Every Backman book should come with the warning that your heart will be split in two but also, more importantly, with the assurance that it will be repaired with restored faith in the small miracles of being human."