Beautiful, amazing, brilliant. A star in the sky. I loved A Man Called Ove, Anxious People will rival this for a much loved book. I laughed and literally sat there with my nose running with emotion.

Thank you Mr Bachman for this wonderful book.

Reading a new book by one of my favourite authors is terrifying.
What happens if I don’t like it?!?

Ever since I read (and re-read – and cried a lot) Beartown, Backman has firmly been on the list of my favourite authors. Beartown got me right in the feels, the way so few books do, but also the way that reminds you why you like reading in the first place.

And why Anxious People did not reach Beartown-levels of amazing in my own opinion (sorry – I’m a Beartown fan), it is more than pretty amazing.

It’s hard to list every single thing I like about Backman’s books. It’s his simple and yet so important inclusion of LGBT characters. How he manages to describe every human emotion that has ever existed. How he’ll make me go from tears of laughter to tears of sadness in the same damn chapter.

I gotta admit, I was a bit confused when I first started reading Anxious People, because there are quite a lot of characters, and each chapter seems to be a whole new story. But ultimately, everything links together beautifully; you fall in love with this idiot (cashless) bank robber turned lame hostage taker; with the duo of policemen who certainly aren’t the sharpest pencils in the box, but sure are relatable; and with all the poor hostages, who’d hoped to end the day with a new flat, and instead left with new friends.

This book is pure and so, so true; after all, all of us human beings are a bit of a mess, and who’s to say we’ll never try to rob a (cashless) bank someday?

I liked the concept of the book, and eventually I liked the execution. It just took a long time to get there.

It took a while to get into A Man Called Ove, but this one was very slow going at first - to the point I considered DNF-ing it. I am glad I stuck with it, though, so that is something.

It was a well written, cleverly conceived plot, and the characters were exceptional. Backman writes such realistic funny personalities, and this book was chock full of them.

The thing that was a little bit ... boring (?) ... for me was just how slow the plot took in developing. It was absolutely ages before anything really happened, and if I wasn’t in a lockdown with all the time in the world, I don’t think I’d have wasted my time sticking with it.

'The truth? The truth about all this? The truth is that this was a story about many different things, but most of all about idiots. Because we're doing the best we can, we really are. We're trying to be grown up and love each other and understand how the hell you're supposed to insert USB leads. We're looking for something to cling on to, something to fight for, something to look forward to. We're doing all we can to teach our children how to swim. We have all of this in common, yet most of us remain strangers, we never know what we do to each other, how your life is affected by mine.'

Fredrik Backman's new novel will strike a chord in present times, as we all grapple anxiously with the world around us, face social and financial problems, and try to understand our place in the world. From the moment when a man jumps off a bridge ten years ago, to the present when a desperate bank robber tries to hold up a cashless bank and then inadvertently ends up taking a group of strangers hostage as they view a flat opposite the bank, the story weaves back and forward. As it develops it becomes clear that each person involved is somehow connected, and that what appears to be the truth is actually something completely different.

The characters are so utterly believable, and vulnerable, that you genuinely care about what is going on. And, because this is Backman, our narrator is as big a character as them all. This might grate for some readers, but it is done with such skill and humanity that you may find yourself just swept along with the story, as its twists and turns subvert everything you thought you understood about the plot. It's about the bridge, or the bank robbery, or the hostage situation, or a man in a rabbit costume - or it's a locked-room mystery where the bank robber disappears.

There are genuine laugh out loud moments, and then in the next paragraph Backman will hit you with such an emotional sucker-punch that will rip your heart out and trample it on the ground. His characters are lost, damaged, simply somehow trying to get through life. But amidst the pain what shines through is a basic belief in us as people, that we can somehow communicate, that we can somehow get through another day.

I thought that his two Beartown novels would be almost impossible to follow, but this left me with a huge smile on my face and tears pouring down my face. Backman leaves me an emotional wreck, and it is impossible to do him justice in a review, but please please read this book. It might just change your life. 5 stars.

(With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this title.)

Fredrick Backman is so astute in his observations that my reading of this book was accompanied by snorts of recognition and smiling and nodding along! I also found the pedantic nature of these anxious people quite stressful. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I am so disappointed in this book!! I love his books as they are witty but profound at the same time!! I did t even get halfway through.

Brilliantly well written story that is funny and heart touching outstanding characters I really enjoyed this novel truly a masterpiece highly recommended I would like to say thank you to netgalley and the publishers for giving me a chance to read and review this outstanding book

Yet another success from one of my favourite writers, I don’t think it possible for him to write a bad or even second rate book. This story is about ordinary people and the way in which they react to a strange situation (very apt in these strange times). Mr Backman writes with such sensitivity and insight into people and relationships that he would make a formidable counsellor should he decide to give up on novel writing.....please don’t!! He deals with profound inner feelings of the people in his novel and yet writes these profound and complex issues in such a very every-day, common place way. Together with an easy writing style, humour, great story line, loveable well defined characters....I could go on. I am a mega fan of everything Mr Backman writes and would recommend any of his novels to everyone of every age. Thank you Claire of Penguin Random House UK for letting me know, Netgalley for the ARC and most of all Mr Backman for continuing to write books that make me feel so happy.

With grateful thanks to Michael Joseph and Netgalley for a digital copy of Anxious People. This is my second Backman book after A Man Called Ove. Ove is a hard book to follow - it was so perfect to me and inevitably I had to adjust my expectations- this is very different. From the start this book throws out questions, demands an active reader who is intellectually engaged and debating the questions thrown up by the narrative - questions about life. The writing is sharp, searingly comedic and the plot twists around cleverly , playing with the reader’s assumptions and challenging him to follow. For this reason it’s a harder read than Ove. . The story begins with a hostage taker who was a bank robber, but is actually neither- instead rather is a victim of a failed relationship,of the betrayal of business and personal partners and in desperate circumstances. On one level this is pure slapstick with an ‘idiot’ bank robber and an inept father/son police duo trying to catch the hostage taker - it would make a fantastic film. However, many of the characters are ‘anxious people’ and their anxiety takes different forms and arises from different causes, different aspects of society’s dysfunctionality. So alongside the comedy there is desperate sadness. The narrative is often suspended for a discussion of anxiety, of the desperate pressures and inequalities and impersonal system of modern day living. For this reason it may divide readers looking for simple narrative. But it is powerful observation. I think this is particularly apparent in the ending which appears quite drawn out carrying many messages. I greatly enjoyed this - Backman’s story writing skills are exceptional.

Fredrik Backman might be my new fav author! Absolutely loved a Man Called Ove and was so excited to read this one. It didn't disappoint - heartwarming, funny, sad and just brilliant. Backman's writing style is so unique, I can't get enough! Will recommend to everyone! Thank you for sharing this review copy.

"This is a story about a bank robbery, an apartment viewing and a hostage drama. But even more it's a story about idiots. But perhaps not only that."

I would say definitely not only that! Using his characteristically playful language FB creates many funny moments in this book while at the same time he takes on a serious voice making clever observations about people and human behaviour. The characters are quirky, yet relatable, with stories of their own and little secrets and anxieties that are slowly revealed when they are held hostage after a bank robbery goes wrong.

Anxious People is a book that will make you both laugh and cry. Enjoy!

Many thanks to the publisher for my review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman was an outstanding book, I would go as far as to say it is the best book I have read so far this year.
In theory this is a book about a bank robber who’s attempt to rob a bank goes badly wrong and accidently ends up in a hostage situation.
As the process unfolds the hostages realise that the one who needs the most help is the bank robber.
Anxious People is all about how we interact with other people and the effect strangers can have on each other’s lives.
This is not the first book I have read by this author and so far I have loved every one. Each one contains intricately detailed characters that you feel like you have known your whole life and this book didn’t disappoint.
“Bank robbery. A hostage drama. A stairwell full of police officers on their way to storm an apartment. It was easy to get to this point, much easier than you might think. All it took was one single really bad idea.
This story is about a lot of things, but mostly about idiots.”
One of the things I always find in his novels is that he talks about the minutiae of modern life and it’s problems, in sort of a Matt Haig way.
“There’s such an unbelievable amount that we’re all supposed to be able to cope with these days. You’re supposed to have a job, and somewhere to live, and a family, and you’re supposed to pay taxes and have clean underwear and remember the password to your damn Wi-Fi. Some of us never manage to get the chaos under control, so our lives carry on, the world spinning through space at a million miles an hour while we bounce about on it’s surface like so many lost souls. Our hearts are bars of soap that we keep losing hold of; the moment we relax, they drift off and fall in love and get broken, all in the wink of an eye. We’re not in control. So we learn to pretend, all the time, about our jobs and our marriages and everything else. We pretend we’re normal.”
Backman tries, and succeeds in encouraging the reader to feel empathy for all the characters, but especially the bank robber.
“Sometimes it hurts, it really hurts, for no other reason than the fact that our skin doesn’t feel like it’s ours. Sometimes we panic, because the bills need paying and we have to be grown-up and we don’t know how because it’s so horribly, desperately easy to fail at being grown up.”
Anxious People challenges the assumptions we make about other people. For example, the bank robber who accidentally took people hostage. A lot of assumptions could be made about the bank robber that would not necessarily be true.
“So after the bank robbery that wasn’t actually a bank robbery the police showed up, of course. So the bank robber got scared and ran out across the street and into the first door that presented itself. It’s probably a bit harsh to label the bank robber an idiot simply because of that but it certainly wasn’t an act of genius.”
One of my favourite things about Anxious People was the dynamic between Jim and Jack. When she was alive Jim’s wife filled the gap between them, smoothed things other and now they struggle to find ways of communicating how they feel.
“Older men rarely know what to say to younger men to let them know they care. “
There were many parts of the book that made me reflect and were sad but there were also many that made me laugh out loud. The passage below was one which made me chuckle to myself for quite a while.
“A bank robber robs a bank. Think about that for a moment.
Obviously, it has nothing to do with you. Just as little as a man jumping off a bridge. Because you’re a normal decent person, so you would never have robbed a bank. There are simply some things that all normal people understand you must never under any circumstances do. You mustn’t tell lies, you mustn’t steal, you mustn’t kill and you mustn’t throw stones at birds. We all agree on that.
Except maybe swans, because swans can actually be passive aggressive little bastards.”
Anxious People is one of those books that starts of as one thing and then twists and turns into being about other things. Backman addresses this several times throughout the book and uses it to advance the story.
“The whole thing is a complicated, unlikely story. Perhaps that’s because what we think stories are about often isn’t what they are about at all. This, for instance, might not actually be the story of a bank robbery, or an apartment viewing, or a hostage drama. Perhaps it isn’t even a story about idiots.
Perhaps this a story about a bridge.”
The final chapter of this book is one of the best I have read. I wouldn’t normally share the final chapter of any book as I don’t want to ruin things for people but this one contains no spoilers and is a lovely piece of writing.
“The truth? The truth about all this? The truth is that this was a story about many different things, but mostly about idiots. Because we’re all doing the best we can, we really are. We’re trying to be grown up and love each other and understand how the hell you’re supposed to insert USB leads. We’re looking for something to cling on to, something to fight for, something to look forward to. We’re doing all we can to teach our children how to swim. We have all this in common, yet most of us remain strangers, we never know what we do to each other, how your life is affected by mine.
Perhaps we hurried past each other in a crowd today and neither of us noticed, and the breast of your coat brushed against mine for a single moment and then we were gone. I don’t know who you are.
But when you get home this evening, when this day is over and the night takes us, allow yourself a deep breath. Because we made it through this day as well.
There’ll be another one along tomorrow.”

Thanks for the chance to read the advance copy via Netgalley. I've really enjoyed his other books, having read A Man Called Ove and My Grandmother sends her regards and apologies.

Comparing against those other two reads, it is great to be back to reading the familiar way of his writing but still prefer A Man Called Ove compared, which I think is due to that being a more understandable plot. With Anxious People, I struggled to get into it to start with and was almost two many issues for me to digest. Although his writing style is always going to be unique and provide an insight into human relationships and connections like nobody else, and he does that and through many plot strands, character depth and histories.

Sure that Backman fans will love this when it's published later this year!

I didn't know whether to laugh, cry or tear my hair out. In the end I sat back and enjoyed the most amazing book I have read in a long time. It really touched my core.

Really enjoyed this. The stark observations had me laughing out loud, and it was a clever take on an unusual plot. I loved the characters, all of them made me smile throughout.
I found the plot a little confusing, about who the bank robber was and how they escaped, as it kept changing to the police angle, but I think it was a clever way to drop the clues.

Oh my goodness, what a book!
I absolutely loved this and was hooked from the premise and desperate to read it.
It seemed like such a simple story, but as with his other books it's so wonderfully layered that I just felt astounded when all the pieces fell into place.
I feel like I've been on an adventure with all the characters (loved them all), I've laughed until I've cried, then cried some more, and then ugly cried whilst trying to catch my breath to top it all.
I love that you start the book feeling one way about a person or situation and then find he's totally changed your opinion, which I find has been the case with all of his books I've read.
This Is my 6th 5 star rated book for this year (2 of the others were also Backman books) it was a powerful book that has given me a lot to think about and will stay with me for a long time.
I wish I could re-read it and experience it all again.
My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for my advance copy in return for my honest review.

I always marvel at the way Backman turns amusing coincidences into layered stories that astound me once everything fits into place. You should never make assumptions about any of his characters as you never know where they will take you.

On the face of it, this is a story about a bank robber and of stupid rash decisions. However as the chapters progress the book unveils a deeper meaning that is perfect to get in lost in. You won’t realise you are near the end of the story as you get so wrapped up in the characters and how they interconnect with one and another. It’s wonderfully uplifting.

Credit should also go to the translator (Neil Smith) as the text never jars, it flows smoothly.

Fredrik Backman never ceases to amaze me with his tremendous writing style. This novel is so moving yet so funny - a robber who is risking it all, but actually just seems to need to some love and help. I love how Fredrik captures quirky people so well. He seems to get into their soul and take you with him. Another fantastic book Fredrik - thanks.

Fredrik Backman has a gift for writing people. He seems to understand how people think, how they interact with each other, their motivations, their desires, their fears, in a way that no-one else quite manages. His books are little slices of humanity, always profoundly moving experiences, beautifully written but without any flowery language. I wish I could speak Swedish just so I could experience them in their original form - but full credit to the translator for their exceptional job.

'Anxious People' is a brilliant book. It's laugh out loud funny in places, sad in others, and changes the way you look at the world. Each character is fresh, unique, and perfectly written. The plot is, in many ways, completely insane, but it works - possibly because it's almost incidental. This is a story about characters, not about events, and the madness of the plot illustrates perfectly the madness of humanity.

It's a story about a bank robbery, except it's not. It's a story about a hostage situation, but to call it a hostage situation doesn't do the book or the characters justice at all. Really, it's a story about a bank robber, two police officers, a banker, a young lesbian couple, a retired couple who renovate homes, an actor, a grandmother, an estate agent, and a therapist. I could tell you more, but all I'm going to tell you is to read it. It's brilliant, and it's even more brilliant when you don't know anything going in. Just enjoy being taken for the ride.

The characters are perfect. They all start perfectly normal, somewhat stereotypical, then layers upon layers are peeled back and suddenly you're questioning everything. Backman takes every single assumption that people make and flips them. It's clever and leaves you questioning everything, which is exactly how a novel should make you feel.

Read this book. I usually end my reviews by recommending books to a specific audience, but this book's audience is everyone. There is no-one who wouldn't benefit from reading this, and I think most will enjoy it. It's fun, clever, very different, and an indescribably good reading experience. I'm so grateful to live in a time when we have a novelist like Fredrik Backman.

This is a story about idiots What? Yes, idiots! A bank robber attempts to rob a cashless bank asking for a very specific and low amount of kroner. It descends into a hostage situation at a apartment being viewed for sale by potential buyers. The hostages are eventually released after inevitably had pizza delivered - as that happens at every hostage situation, right? The police storm in, find blood but no robber. All the hostages are interviewed by police officers Jim and Jack a father and son, who are among others, anxious people.

I love Bachman’s digressions which frequently aren’t, but it’s funny and is typical of how a mind flits from subject to subject. Well, mine does anyway! There are so many acutely pertinent and acutely observed statements about people, society, Stockholm (!) and Stockholmers, age gaps and social media among others. The writing is funny, emotional, heart breaking, heart warming, and moving in equal measure. The characters are fantastic, I especially like Estelle, the oldest hostage at 87. She’s fab. I have a sneaking admiration for London the bank clerk, who though rude, did provide so real laugh out loud moments. She’s ballsy too! What can I say about the hostage rabbit? Well, that’s an unusual image if nothing else, especially as he was trouserless!!!! That enters the realms o father bonkers!! The interviews between Jack/Jim and the hostages are also barking, nuts, crazy but there is a reason ......... and I like it! The story is full of connections though you don’t initially see how they can possible be connected as they seem so random.

Overall, a highly entertaining read that via zany humour makes some astute observations and keeps you interested throughout.

With thanks to NetGalley and Penguin, Michael Joseph for the ARC.