Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik BackmanMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Britt-Marie was here is a coming of age story. What makes it unusual is that Britt-Marie is 63 years old. But, still, this is a story of Britt-Marie's coming of age.
Kent, Britt-Marie's husband, has had a heart attack. Britt-Marie knows this because Kent's mistress has called to tell her. After playing the dutiful wife for 40 years, Britt-Marie decides it is time to start a new life.
Of course, a new life requires money, and Britt-Marie needs a job. The girl from the unemployment office makes the mistake of telling Britt-Marie she will call her when a job comes up that she feels will work for her. But, Britt-Marie is not the kind of person to wait. She wants to know when. When she has not received a call 5 minutes after the office opens the next morning, she calls to see what they have found for her. In desperation, she is offered a job that will only last a few months. It is as the head of a recreation center which needs a caretaker until it can be closed in a couple of months. Britt-Marie accepts and heads to Borg.
Everything has closed down in Born, except the recreation center, which is to be closed, the pizzeria, which is attached, the post-office, which is the pizzeria, and the car repair shop, which is also the pizzeria. In addition, the pizzeria is the local grocery store. Everyone in Borg seems down and out since the trucking company, the major employer, fired everyone. Even the rat at the recreation center seems lonely.
But, Britt-Marie has standards. There are certain things she does and has done them all her life. Britt-Marie follows the rules, cleans, straightens, and ensures she never appears to be a criminal to her neighbors. Borg has never seen the like of Britt-Marie. But, both Borg and Britt-Marie don't know what hit them.
The bottom line in Britt-Marie was Here is that Britt-Marie has not jumped toward anything in her life since her older sister died when Britt-Marie was a little girl. She has lived her life cautiously, carefully, neatly, and cleanly. She doesn't jump, she carefully and logically takes reasonable actions. But, there are people in Born who do not appreciate reasonable actions and keep pestering Britt-Marie to jump. These are people in pain, living in a town that would have been forgotten if people were not so insistent in shutting things down. Borg needs Britt-Marie, but she is not so sure this is a good thing. Slowly, soccer seeps itself into her life and she, shockingly, finds this matters to her and to the people of Borg.
A lovely, strange, but moving story of a woman who has lived a sheltered life that has prevented her from becoming a whole person. In the end, Borg and Britt-Marie will never be the same. And, all due to a small, leather ball, that helps to sooth the pain.
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