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My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry
A charming, warmhearted novel from the author of the New York Times bestseller A Man Called Ove.
Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy—as in standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-strangers crazy. She is also Elsa’s best, and only, friend. At night Elsa takes refuge in her grandmother’s stories, in the Land-of-Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas, where everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal.
When Elsa’s grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has wronged, Elsa’s greatest adventure begins. Her grandmother’s instructions lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and old crones but also to the truth about fairy tales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other.
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry is told with the same comic accuracy and beating heart as Fredrik Backman’s bestselling debut novel, A Man Called Ove. It is a story about life and death and one of the most important human rights: the right to be different.
Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy—as in standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-strangers crazy. She is also Elsa’s best, and only, friend. At night Elsa takes refuge in her grandmother’s stories, in the Land-of-Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas, where everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal.
When Elsa’s grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has wronged, Elsa’s greatest adventure begins. Her grandmother’s instructions lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and old crones but also to the truth about fairy tales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other.
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry is told with the same comic accuracy and beating heart as Fredrik Backman’s bestselling debut novel, A Man Called Ove. It is a story about life and death and one of the most important human rights: the right to be different.
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thenextgoodbook.com
My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman
370 pages
What’s it about?
Elsa is 7 years old, smart, and very different. Her best (and only friend) is her outrageous grandmother. When granny dies Elsa is left with the fairy tales she told her, and a mystery to solve.
What did it make me think about?
"A Man Called Ove" was such a sweet book that I was really looking forward to reading this one. Again the story is about the family you are born with, and the family you make. This had the same sweet quality to it that "A Man Called Ove" had, but I just couldn't get into the fairy tale parts. I will say that the story was moving and I wanted to continue to read it. The cast of characters was really interesting too.
Should I read it?
This is a hard one to review. The main story was really moving but the fairy tale parts just bored me to tears....
Quote-
"Granny isn't particularly good at living in the real world. There are too many rules. She cheats when she plays Monopoly and drives Renault in the bus lane and steals those yellow carrier bags from IKEA and won't stand behind the line when she's at the conveyor belt at the airport. And when she goes to the bathroom she leaves the door open.
But she does tell the very best fairy tales ever, and for that Elsa can forgive quite a few character defects. "
If you liked this try-
A Man Called Ove by Frederik Backman
The Unlikely Pilgrammage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman
370 pages
What’s it about?
Elsa is 7 years old, smart, and very different. Her best (and only friend) is her outrageous grandmother. When granny dies Elsa is left with the fairy tales she told her, and a mystery to solve.
What did it make me think about?
"A Man Called Ove" was such a sweet book that I was really looking forward to reading this one. Again the story is about the family you are born with, and the family you make. This had the same sweet quality to it that "A Man Called Ove" had, but I just couldn't get into the fairy tale parts. I will say that the story was moving and I wanted to continue to read it. The cast of characters was really interesting too.
Should I read it?
This is a hard one to review. The main story was really moving but the fairy tale parts just bored me to tears....
Quote-
"Granny isn't particularly good at living in the real world. There are too many rules. She cheats when she plays Monopoly and drives Renault in the bus lane and steals those yellow carrier bags from IKEA and won't stand behind the line when she's at the conveyor belt at the airport. And when she goes to the bathroom she leaves the door open.
But she does tell the very best fairy tales ever, and for that Elsa can forgive quite a few character defects. "
If you liked this try-
A Man Called Ove by Frederik Backman
The Unlikely Pilgrammage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
There were parts of this novel that were brilliant. Overall I really liked the main character, Elsa and how the delivering of the letters unfolded a story about the various neighbors. However the whole fantasy part of the novel really bogged me down and took away from the novel. A Man Called Ove was definitely a better read. I was intrigued by Britt Marie as a character so I will try his next one.
Very sweet story, told in a way only Fredrik Backman can.
The main character, Elsa, is an "almost 8-year-old" who lives in an apartment building with lots of interesting characters. She's very close to her Granny, and they've created a fairytale world together, The Land of Almost-Awake. As is his signature, Backman gradually peels back the layers of this story and everyone in it and fairytale and reality collide.
The main character, Elsa, is an "almost 8-year-old" who lives in an apartment building with lots of interesting characters. She's very close to her Granny, and they've created a fairytale world together, The Land of Almost-Awake. As is his signature, Backman gradually peels back the layers of this story and everyone in it and fairytale and reality collide.
I loved this book. I listened to it and that was delightful. I confess, Fredrik Bachman is one of my favorite authors.
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