Britt-Marie Was Here: A Novel

I am a huge fan of this author ever since reading Beartown. It amazes me how young he is yet has his finger on the pulse of humanity so astutely. This was, for me, a thoroughly charming, engrossing novel about someone who clearly has 'issues'. She has left her former life (husband who cheated on her) to embark on being on her own. You will grow to 'understand' her. As the author occasionally tosses in information about where Britt-Marie has come from, you get a glimpse into her entire life leading up to now, you will question whether her experienced issues contributed to how she is now, or did they accelerate issues she already had embedded in her. You will form your own opinions about all the other characters. You have to remember this takes place in a tiny 'town' in Norway - things are not anything like any of us have experienced. This novel needs to be digested for exactly what it is: The journey of a very 'challenged' woman. It took my heart into another whole dimension. Bachman's incredible insight into others' 'idiosyncracies' is amazing. I think the main message for me, aside from loving the story, the interplay of the characters, the wanting to know where it all leads, is how the players 'accept' Britt-Marie's personality. I am a huge 'highlighter' of passages and though I have too many to put forth here, I shall share what I can to hopefully give you a true 'feel' of what this author portrays in his wondrous story: "Once he used to hold her hand when they slept, and she dreamed his dreams. Not that Britt-Marie didn't have any dreams of her own; it was just that his were bigger, and the one with the biggest dreams always wins in this world." "Kent said that Britt-Marie was socially incompetent, so she stayed home for another few years so he could be social on behalf of the both of them. It's not that she chose not to have any expectations, she just woke up one morning and realized they were past their sell-by date." "In the end, all she dreamed of was a balcony and a husband who did not walk on the parquet in his golf shoes, who occasionally put his shirt in the laundry basket without her having to ask him to do it, and who now and then said he liked the food without her having to ask. A home. Children who, although they weren't her own, came for Christmas in spite of everything. Or at least tried to pretend they had a decent reason not to. A correctly organized cutlery drawer. An evening at the theater every now and again. Windows you could see the world through, someone who noticed that she had taken special care with her hair. Or at least pretended to notice. Or at least let her go on pretending. Someone who came home to a newly mopped floor and a hot dinner on the table and, on the odd occasion, noticed that she had made an effort. " "She misses her balcony more than anything. You're never quite alone when you can stand on a balcony - you have all the cars and houses and the people in the streets. You're among them, but also not. That's the best thing about balconies." "It may be that a heart only finally breaks after leaving a hospital room in which a shirt smells of pizza and perfume, but it will break more readily if it has burst a few times before." "She wasn't upset about what Kent had said, because most likely he didn't even understand it himself. On the other hand she was offended that he hadn't even checked to see if she was standing close enough to hear." "Ingrid (Britt's deceased sister) was never negative. As always with people like this, it's difficult to know whether everyone loved Ingrid because she was so positive, or if she was so positive because everyone loved her. Ingrid also loved to play. As with all people like that, it's difficult to know if she was the best because she loved the games, or if she loved them because she was the best." "It's the silence that she struggles most of all to live with, because while immersed in silence you don't know if anyone knows you are there, and Winter is also the quiet season because the cold insulates people. Makes the world soundless. It was the silence that paralyzed her when Ingrid died." "All marriages have their bad sides, because all people have weaknesses. If you live with another human being you learn to handle these weaknesses in a variety of ways. For instance, you might take the view that weaknesses are a bit like heavy pieces of furniture, and based on this you must learn to clean around them. To maintain the illusion. Of course the dust is building up unseen, but you learn to repress this for as long as it goes unnoticed by guests. And then one day someone moves a piece of furniture without your say-so, and everything comes into plain view. Dirt an scratch marks. Permanent damage to the parquet floor. By then it's too late." "Societies are like people in that way. If you don't ask too many questions and don't shift any heavy furniture around, there's no need to notice their worst sides." There are two parts of the novel whereby the title of the book will come to your mind (I always enjoy finding out where titles come from) - one of which is when Britt is looking at a map of Borg on the wall - she looks at the red dot that first made her fall in love with the picture. The reason for her love of maps. It's half worn away, the dot, and the red color is bleached. Yet it's there, flung down there on the map halfway between the lower left corner and its center, and next to it is written "You are here." "Sometimes it's easier to go on living, not even knowing who you are, when at lest you know precisely where you are while you go on not knowing." "Human beings are the only animals that smile as a gesture of peace, whereas other animals show their teeth as a threat. This is perfectly understandable now; she can see the animal inside the human being." "They got married because Kant's accountant said it made sense from a 'tax-planning perspective'. She never had a plan, she hoped it would be enough if you were faithful and in love. Until the day came when it wasn't enough." "Then she rubbed the white mark on her ring finger. People who have not worn a wedding ring for almost their entire lives are unaware of how a mark like that looks. Some people take theirs off from time to time - while doing the washing-up, for instance - but she had never once taken off her ring until the day she took it off once and for all. So the white mark is permanent, as if her skin had another color when she was married. As if this is what is left of her, underneath, if your scrape off everything she turned into." "A few moments. A human being, any human being at all, has so perishingly few chances to stay right there, to let go of time and fall into the moment. And to love someone without measure." "All passion is childish. It's banal and naïve. It's nothing we learn; it's instinctive, and so it overwhelms us. Overturns us. It bears us away in a flood. All other emotions belong to the earth, but passion inhabits the universe. That is the reason why passion is worth something, not for what it gives us but for what it demands that we risk. Our dignity The puzzlement of others and their condescending, shaking heads." "She asks herself if choices or circumstances make us the sort of people we become. She wonders what takes the most out of a person: to be the kind that jumps, or the kind that doesn't? she wonders how much space a person has left in her soul to change herself, once she gets older. What people does she still have to meet, what will they see in her, and what will they make her see in herself?" "One remarkable thing about communities built along roads is that you can find just as many reasons for leaving them as excuses to stay. Some people never quite stop devoting themselves to one or the other." "Morning comes to Borg with a sun that controls itself and waits respectfully on the horizon, as if wanting to give her enough time to make a last choice, and then to choose for herself for the first time." The scenes with Britt-Marie and Sven brought me to my knees - the first being when he produces a bamboo screen in order to calm her before riding in his patrol car going by townspeople. He was beyond an incredible human being. When she rides in his patrol car she reflects 'He talks all the way, just as Kent used to do when they were in the car. But it was different, because Kent always told her things, whereas the policeman asks her questions. It irritates her. You do get irritated by someone taking an interest in you when you're not used to it." Pay attention to how the author planted just one little drawing at the start of each paragraph - one that encapsulated what the most important point of that chapter was. I am still reeling from the ending. I cannot comment one bit on it. I would dearly love to know how others feel about it.

📖 Book Review: Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman 📖 Rating: 🥃 4 Stars - Smooth & Satisfying: A solid, enjoyable read with great flow. After the dark intensity of Phantasma, this was a refreshing change. Britt-Marie Was Here is a heartwarming story about second chances, finding purpose, and stepping outside your comfort zone—whether you want to or not. Britt-Marie, a woman set in her ways, suddenly finds herself in the struggling town of Borg, coaching a youth soccer team and discovering the power of community. Watching her transformation from an overlooked, rigid housewife to someone truly seen was both touching and inspiring. ✨ What I Loved: ✔️ Britt-Marie’s unexpected growth ✔️ The quirky, lovable townspeople ✔️ Backman’s signature mix of humor & heart ⚠️ Trigger Warnings: Infidelity, depression, neglect. 📚 Tropes: Fish Out of Water, Found Family, Starting Over, Small Town Dynamics. 💬 Have you ever stepped out of your comfort zone and found something unexpected? 🔖 Hashtags: #BookReview #BookLovers #Bibliophile #Bookstagram #ContemporaryFiction #BookRecommendations #ReadingCommunity #FredrikBackman #BrittMarieWasHere #SmallTownStories

This is the first book I have read by Backman. I checked it out at the library. The story is so good i ordered the book. I like the character of Britt-Marie. She is obsessive, compulsive and the story tells much of a person with this particular personality. But I laughed. Britt-Marie is hilarious with her demands, outspoken, People today are so careless about what they do, how they dress, their hairstyles. She is quite opinionated. The lady hates dirt, a compulsive cleaner. As for drinks of any kind, coasters must be used. She keeps lists about tasks she must do, jobs she has finished and everything else. Coasters must be used, the table will be messed up. Cutlery drawers must always be neat and organized. Baking soda is excellent for cleaning. Britt-Marie sprinkles baking soda to absorb dirt and humidity. She has a special cleaner for windows. No other will do. This lady is sixty three years old, has never worked a job, took care of her mother, then was married for forty years, no children, step kids part time. Her husband cheated so she left. She goes to the unemployment office and demands that the young woman find her a job. But at her age and lack of experience, where is there a job? Her husband is gone on a trip on business. When he comes back she will be missed. She kept his clothes clean, cooked a good meal, the apartment was always immaculate. Fredrik travels on business, Britt-Marie will not go, she hates changes in her life. She will have a rude awakening. The young lady, after Britt-Marie's constant calling, finds her a job, a small village, run down, in the middle of nowhere. The book is set in Sweden, in a period of about three weeks. The village has many for sale signs in its building. The job Britt-Marie gets is working in the closed down town recreation center, the job only lasting three weeks. There is a pizzeria, the only place of business. A few businesses are conducted from this pizzeria. Britt-Marie's car is at the pizzeria waiting to be fixed. A big town is twelve miles away. The children of Borg play soccer, the only game they can afford to play. Borg is a poor out of the way village, but kids are full of life and mean to enjoy playing this game. Soccer is important in this story. The town cop, Sven, is taken with Britt-Marie and finds her a place to stay, a room where she can have a balcony and potted plants. This makes her happy. The landlady is crusty, rude and outspoken as is Britt-Marie. Bank has a dog and will rent to Britt-Marie until it sells. She's anxious to get rid of her home and get as far away from Borg as soon as she can. Britt-Marie gets a pet, a rat, that she treats with Snickers and talks to him like he is her psychiatrist. He lives in the rec center. Britt-Marie cleans the pizzeria, the recreation center and her renter house. Owners tell her she doesn't have to, she does, the ladies don't stop her. The owner of the pizzeria is named Somebody and is in a wheelchair. The lady gets to know characters, many of them not Swedish, down and out and becomes a more sympathetic, compassionate person who relates well to the kids and others. She loses many of her quirky ways and is not as laugh out loud. The characters around her are quirky. A fun read, but in a way sad. Everybody eats dinner at six o'clock as they should believes Britt-Marie. No excuses.

Britt-Marie is the sort of person who likes things just so. She can’t abide a disorganized cutlery drawer, being offered “milk” in tiny disposable cartons, plastic mugs, plastic teaspoons. She is, if nothing else, fastidious. “’Milk and Sugar?’ the girl asks, pouring some coffee into a plastic mug. Britt-Marie doesn’t judge anyone. Far from it. But who would behave like that? A plastic mug! Are we at war?” Britt-Marie begins this journey as a 63-year old woman who has just moved out of her flat with her husband, Kent, and begins a new life working in a village that has very little, in terms of modern conveniences, to offer. It’s a community on the verge of non-existence in a place her mother would have described as “the back of beyond.” The few people and shops left are taking on additional responsibilities, the pizzeria serving multiple roles as other places close. In her new role as caretaker of the recreation center, Britt-Marie finds herself slowing finding herself warming up to the residents of Borg, The young people have little to do except play soccer, and as she warms up to a few select residents (including a rat), the residents begin to involve her in their lives, their worries, as they begin to open themselves to her, she begins to feel more “at home.” Still, there is Kent in the back of her mind, her philandering husband who she has spent most of her life taking care of. Now, she must take care of herself, she must be in charge of herself and her life. Her new life. “The reason for her love of maps. It’s half worn away, the dot, and the red color is bleached. Yet it’s there, flung down there on the map halfway between the lower left corner and its center, and next to it is written, 'You are here.' Sometimes it’s easier to go on living, not even knowing who you are, when at least you know precisely where you are while you go on not knowing.” With so many years of life with Kent behind her, she is still often torn between her old life, its comforts and routines, and this new life where virtually everything is new for Britt-Marie, new friends, new routines, new feelings. She has a new purpose, a newfound joy in herself, and her new friends, in this new community where she has made her home. She feels needed, she no longer feels invisible. “At a certain age almost all the questions a person asks him or herself are really just about one thing: How should you live your life?” Fredrik Backman has written yet another captivating story with terrific characters that are easy to give your heart to. If you read “A Man Called Ove” and / or “My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry” and enjoyed them, this is a must read. If you haven’t read his former novels, “Britt-Marie Was Here” can be enjoyed for its own merits.

This story is an easy read and interesting. It’s a simple story, not a big saga. The character is interesting. You don’t come across people like this too often.

There was a point where I thought this book just wasn’t for me, but I’m glad I stuck with it because I really love the characters. The story is very charming!

This captivating novel is an emotional rollercoaster that seamlessly blends humor and poignancy. The characters are so richly developed that they feel like old friends, and the narrative's depth draws readers into an unforgettable journey. Borg's portrayal is particularly compelling, creating an immersive experience that will resonate long after the final page. An absolute must-read that transcends genre expectations and touches the heart.

This is a collective review of three Older Adult fiction titles: “A Man Called Ove,” “Britt-Marie Was Here,” and “Etta and Otto and Russell and James.” I enjoyed the first two, which recall "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry" and "Major Pettigrew's Last Stand." I didn't finish the third. I’m a fan of OA fiction, because after age 50, people often reexamine their lives and become something else. Ove and Britt-Marie, both by Fredrik Backman, delivered on the premise. I had Ove on my To Read list for a long time, but the beginning was a turn-off. Such a stereotype of older age: the cranky old man, which Ove carried to the extreme. It wasn’t until I fell in love with Britt-Marie, and Backman's writing, that I went back and read Ove. (Both stories are based in Sweden.) Britt-Marie was also hard to get into. The first 25% of the book is pretty annoying. Britt-Marie is eccentric and limited, again an unrealistic portrayal of a contemporary 60-year-old. Yet at some point, Backman fed me tidbits that kept me reading, and then I was hooked. I loved the story of older-age rebirth and redemption. Here’s a sample: “A year turned into several years, and several years turned into all the years. One morning you wake up with more life behind you than in front of you, not being able to understand how it’s happened.” and “She stands alone outside the pizzeria. If something within her has been knocked down and shattered, she tries to tell herself, it is all her own fault, because these feelings she has inside should never have been set free in the first place. It is far too late to start a new life. At a certain age almost all the questions a person asks him or herself are really just about one thing: how should you live your life?” After reading and enjoying Britt-Marie, I had to read Ove. It starts out similarly, with a crazy old man who’s so annoying, but trusting Backman, I stuck with it. Ove is even better than Britt-Marie, although again, it’s a weirdly ancient portrayal of a man who’s barely sixty. The ending is even more fulsome and rewarding than with Britt-Marie. Both novels show us how contemporary times are a challenge for those who grew up with another way of life, and learning to live with change can enhance a person’s experience of the second half. Both Ove and Britt-Marie would have been happier in their little ruts, had death and divorce (respectively) not jarred them into the modern world. The joy is in seeing how they learn to navigate and contribute to their communities. Also, Backman is a skilled writer. He reveals details at exactly the right time, not frontloading backstory or dumping information on us too soon. He creates a hunger and then satisfies it. As to Etta and friends, I couldn’t finish it. It’s the story of an 80-something demented woman setting out on a 2000-mile walk across Canada. Her husband, who allegedly is not demented, lets her go, knowing she sees it as an adventure. Her neighbor, who has always loved her, goes looking for her, and has his own fun on the way. Meanwhile, Etta keeps company with a talking coyote (James). Personally, I’m not enamored with magical realism, depictions of the elderly as demented, or multiple take-your-pick endings to scenes. I couldn’t tell if Etta was really doing a thing or not, and then it ended up not mattering to me and I put the book down. My apologies to the author for not appreciating her form of art; many did, as reflected in the number of good reviews.