You’d think at this point I wouldn’t be shocked by how much I love every single book I pick up by Fredrik Backman. Yet, I was once again that meme of that one dude holding his hand up to his mouth looking scandalised when I started Anxious People and immediately could tell it was going to be one of my favourites of the year. But I digress.
On the surface, Anxious People chronicles a crime that never took place. The book opens to a bank robbery that isn’t really a bank robbery and follows that with a hostage situation that really isn’t one. Rather, it’s a meeting of eight anxious strangers who all happen to be at an apartment viewing for vastly different reasons (yes, it’s a wonder any one of the eight is actually there to, you know, check out the place) and the spot where one would-be robber and would-be hostage taker kind of vanishes. As we follow the police trying to piece together the clues and interviewing all the glorified hostages, we also get to see those eight people unravel while at the apartment viewing until there’s only one question left. Would you rather face the police and admit to your crimes or stay locked up in an apartment with the weirdest, most eclectic and kooky people in the world?
I wonder if I will ever pick up a book by Backman and not be completely baffled at the synopsis only to fall in love with the book on the very first page (chances are slim, to be honest). Backman excels in Anxious People the way he has excelled in all his previous releases and it’s because of one thing: the way he writes the most painful truths, the way he uncovers what we all think sometimes, but would never dare speak aloud. It’s like he’s hiding in our brains, snagging our worst nightmares and most hopeful daydreams and shoves them into characters that will then make you question why you haven’t robbed a bank yet or gone into the real estate business (okay maybe that’s going a bit too far but you get my point, right?).
Backman has a way with words that always leaves me reeling. He somehow manages to make everything sound hilarious while also creating moments and characters that change the way you view the world because you’re seeing other people’s perspectives. And even if you don’t agree with them, you at least understand. And you realise that every story has two sides to it – or rather, eight. Or ten, if we count the police officers as well.
I remember being flabbergasted about how Backman could make me care about hockey in his outstanding novel Beartown; in this, I found myself invested in real estate, which I can honestly say I never saw coming. Backman manages to make the ordinary feel extraordinary, imbibing seemingly drab topics with passion and fervour and it works every single time to leave me absolutely entranced. And it’s one hundred percent because of the characters. At its root, Anxious People is about connections between individuals, a father and a son who are unable to bridge the distance between them created by the absence of a woman and snap at each other while, really, they are only searching for a way to bond. An old married couple that doesn’t get a lot right in life but love each other ferociously even if it sometimes translates in weird ways. A pregnant woman who would like to strangle her fiancée while simultaneously knowing that she would do anything for her and vice versa. And so many more characters that will tug at your heartstrings and make you want to reach out to that person you haven’t called in ages but still feel tied to.
Backman knows how to capture all the little moments in life we never really think about, the connections we make and take for granted instead of seeing them as the blessings they are, the kindnesses and cruelties that have become the norm when really, they should stand out, for better or for worse.
With that being said, what I loved most about this book was how it made me question how far I would go for the people I love. As the reader learns, the would-be bank robber had a pretty profound reason for robbing the bank and as we slowly learn why the robber thought this was the only viable option left, we also get to ask ourselves how much we take for granted in this world and how much we need to look out for others. And that paying kindness forward is never wasted.
Riveting and jovial while not shying away from the hard truths of life, Anxious People demonstrates Backman’s ability to make even a would-be hostage situation one of the most entertaining and profound encounters to read about. May this man never stop writing.
Anxious People is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of September 8th 2020.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
This is a poignant comedy about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined.
Viewing an apartment normally doesn’t turn into a life-or-death situation, but this particular open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes everyone in the apartment hostage. As the pressure mounts, the eight strangers slowly begin opening up to one another and reveal long-hidden truths.
As police surround the premises and television channels broadcast the hostage situation live, the tension mounts and even deeper secrets are slowly revealed. Before long, the robber must decide which is the more terrifying prospect: going out to face the police, or staying in the apartment with this group of impossible people.
Such a perfect review of this book and its author’s work. I loved this – and all of his others.