Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Length: 336 pages
Audiobook Length: 9 hours and 18 minutes
First Published: 2014
View in Goodreads
Buy on Amazon
Rachael’s Review
Britt-Marie cannot stand clutter or disorganization and she doesn’t mean for her helpful suggestions to come off as criticism. After walking out on her cheating husband, Britt-Marie takes a job as the caretaker of the local recreation center. Soon, she is heavily involved in helping a colorful collection of local characters and coaching the youth soccer team. Can Britt-Marie finally find a place where she belongs?
I have a soft spot for novels about misunderstood socially awkward adults trying to find connection. Sadly, Britt-Marie Was Here fell flat for me. It didn’t help that the plot was hard to follow, jumping ahead of an important and then explaining what you missed. The lovable cast of secondary characters was as expected but much of the story hinges on whether Britt-Marie will take her idiot husband back; a hell no to any reader, making it difficult to sit even sit through the possibility.
Publisher’s Description
Britt-Marie can’t stand mess. A disorganized cutlery drawer ranks high on her list of unforgivable sins. She is not one to judge others—no matter how ill-mannered, unkempt, or morally suspect they might be. It’s just that sometimes people interpret her helpful suggestions as criticisms, which is certainly not her intention.
But hidden inside the socially awkward, fussy busybody is a woman who has more imagination, bigger dreams, and a warmer heart that anyone around her realizes.
When Britt-Marie walks out on her cheating husband and has to fend for herself in the miserable backwater town of Borg—of which the kindest thing one can say is that it has a road going through it—she finds work as the caretaker of a soon-to-be demolished recreation center. The fastidious Britt-Marie soon finds herself being drawn into the daily doings of her fellow citizens, an odd assortment of miscreants, drunkards, layabouts. Most alarming of all, she’s given the impossible task of leading the supremely untalented children’s soccer team to victory. In this small town of misfits, can Britt-Marie find a place where she truly belongs?
Funny and moving, sweet and inspiring, Britt-Marie Was Here celebrates the importance of community and connection in a world that can feel isolating.
Quotes from Britt-Marie Was Here
One morning you wake up with more life behind you than in front of you, not being able to understand how it’s happened.
An unreasonable amount of paperwork is required these days just to be a human being.
Because if we don’t forgive those we love, then what is left? What is love if it’s not loving our lovers even when they don’t deserve it?
If you can be heard then you exist.
About Fredrik Backman
Fredrik Backman is a bestselling Swedish author. His works include A Man Called Ove, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, Beartown, Anxious People, and Us Against You. He currently lives in Stockholm, Sweden. Visit the author’s website →
Featured In
Similar Books
