Book Review: My Friends by Fredrik Backman

Another Fredrick Backman book is a cause for celebration for many readers, including myself. He’s a bestselling writer that keeps churning out the hits, so if you’re a fan of his some of his previous books like the Beartown series, or Anxious People, you’ll more than likely enjoy his latest novel, My Friends. Written in the same style of the aforementioned titles, this book is told from a few different perspectives with Backman’s trademark observations of the human condition. It can veer into saccharine territory at times, but his creative plotting keeps the pages turning.

Plot Summary

Louisa is on the cusp of turning 18, and eager to finally graduate out of foster care. One of her very few possessions is a postcard of a famous painting which she has kept with her since she was little, which has also helped inspire her own artistic pursuits, mainly spray painting walls and drawing with whatever writing instruments she’s able to get her hands on. When her only friend passes away, she embarks on a very risky plan to commemorate her memory, triggering one of many police chases in her life, but also the unlikely path to potential financial stability. To pursue this opportunity Louisa finds herself on a train trip with a new companion, Ted; one of the men who was included in this famous painting decades ago. As they travel to the sea Louisa learns about Ted’s friends who are also included in this painting, and the difficult circumstances that led to its creation. Ted is reluctant to befriend Louisa, but he has also just lost someone, and is simply executing his friend’s dying wish. Together, they learn more about one another’s difficult upbringings, the challenges that led them to their current circumstances, and a hope for their future healing. Switching back and forth between Ted and Louisa’s present-day adventures and Ted’s childhood with his friends, the novel unravels as a long story told from one person to another, with unexpected twists that force the reader to remain open to new possibilities, even when it seems impossible to consider a different ending.

My Thoughts

It may be unfair of me to label this book as over-sentimental, but if you’ve read any of Backman’s work before, you know what I mean. He has built his book fame on short pithy statements scattered throughout this writing that sums up a particular idiosyncrasy of humanity and our many complicated emotions (Oliver Jeffers also veers into this territory with his picture books meant for both adults and kids). Whenever I review Backman’s books I’m tempted to just include a bunch of quotes that I marked as I went along, but that wouldn’t be a particularly good review. instead, I’ll just marvel at the fact that Backman is particularly gifted at summing up emotions or experiences in one or two lines:

“It is an act of violence when an adult yells at a child, all adults know that deep down, because all adults were once little. Yet we still do it. Time after time, we fail at being human beings” (p. 292 of My Friends by Fredrik Backman).

Addiction is a topic that’s examined in many different ways in this book; different kinds of addiction, how it affects those who have it, and those who loves those who have it. It is never justified or explained away, it’s presented an unfortunate circumstance that the majority of these characters are intimately familiar with:

“The curse is the same for everyone who has loved someone who died of an overdose: we think that if we could just have been with our human every moment of every day, then it would never have happened. It never stops being our fault” (p. 233 of My Friends).

Do you see what I mean about all these pithy observations? If you want more of this than you should definitely read this book. If you’re already starting to roll your eyes, then you should probably pass.

This story won’t be for everyone; it forces the reader to face some dire circumstances, as domestic abuse is another common theme in the lives of these kids, but this book will hit you in the feels. It was a little too long for my taste (clearly his editors need to reign him in a bit) but I still liked it for the same reason I love all Backman books; sometimes I want to be hit in the feels