Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman

*I received a galley of this book from the publisher, but this review and opinions are entirely my own

The last line of the official synopsis summarizes Britt-Marie Was Here perfectly:

“Zany and full-of-heart, Britt-Marie Was Here is a novel about love and second chances, and about the unexpected friendships we make that teach us who we really are and the things we are capable of doing.”

Britt-Marie is a cleaning machine. She eats dinner at 6pm every evening like a civilized person, believes in only one way to organize a cutlery drawer, and baking soda can solve any problem. She finally walks out of a loveless marriage after 40-years, to end up in a tiny town called Borg, with a population of a few hundred and a rat as a confidant, working at the recreation center as its caretaker. The post is only supposed to last three weeks, but what an eye-opening three weeks.

Borg is full of children who are obsessed with soccer, a subject Britt-Marie’s absolutely loathes, and are in need of a coach. She reluctantly agrees to coach them, and increasingly becomes more vital to the community. She grows attached to these kids and can’t help but begin to become attached to the rest of Borg.

Britt-Marie is haunted by an old news story of a woman who had been dead for weeks before neighbors found her due to the smell, because no one knew her; she does not want to end up like that. This prompts her to seek a job, which lead her to Borg. For the first time in her life, she’s on her own, left to make decisions about her life, her wants, her needs. While she continually wants to go back home, to her previous life, she continues to work with what she has. But mostly, she wants people to know she was here. She does not want to be left for the neighbors to find.

While I’ve heard good things, this was my first book by Fredrik Backman. I truly wasn’t sure what to expect when going into this one, but I’m so, so glad that I gave it a chance! Britt-Marie was hard to like as a person at first, but then I just adored her. And the city of Borg and its people! It’s hard not to fall in love with this one. It will make your heart hurt, but it’s so entirely worth it. I didn’t want to put it down! I laughed out loud, and cried, and couldn’t believe it was over by the end. I will definitely re-read this one and would highly recommend.