My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry: A Novel - Fredrik Backman

I've never read anything by Fredrik Backman before. I bought the book because the title intrigued me and anyway, who could resist the little girl and the scarf-wearing dog on the cover?

 

It turns out that the book was originally written in Swedish. It seems to be my year for Scandinavian books, what with "The Readers Of Broken Wheel Recommend" and "Norwegian By Night". This one promises to keep up the high standard.

 

At the start of the novel Elsa is seven and her grandmother, Elsa's personal super-hero, is seventy-seven. The two of them are in league with one another against a world too stupid to see that being different is a gift.

 

Odd but engaging, just like its main characters, this book has already made me smile and I'm sure its going to make me cry before its done but along the way, I expect to the gift of seeing the world afresh.