Summary:
Looking at real estate isn’t usually a life-or-death situation, but an apartment open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage. The captives include a recently retired couple who relentlessly hunt down fixer-uppers to avoid the painful truth that they can’t fix their own marriage. There’s a wealthy bank director who has been too busy to care about anyone else and a young couple who are about to have their first child but can’t seem to agree on anything. Add to the mix an eighty-seven-year-old woman who has lived long enough not to be afraid of someone waving a gun in her face, a flustered but still-ready-to-make-a-deal real estate agent, and a mystery man who has locked himself in the apartment’s only bathroom, and you’ve got the worst group of hostages in the world.
Each of them carries a lifetime of grievances, hurts, secrets, and passions that are ready to boil over. None of them is entirely who they appear to be. And all of them—the bank robber included—desperately crave some sort of rescue. As the authorities and the media surround the premises, these reluctant allies will reveal surprising truths about themselves and set in motion a chain of events so unexpected that even they can hardly explain what happens next.
Review:
I’m amazed that it’s taken me this long to write a review of this book, since it’s one of my favorites. It came out in September 2020, and I’m sure I’ve read it at least six or seven times since then. But since I just gave this book as a gift to someone whose work I’ve followed for several years, I figured I should get off my butt and actually write my thoughts on this novel.
The first thing I noticed when I started this book was that the first chapter is an absolute masterpiece. The author assures the reader that the book is about idiots, but then softens that by talking about how hard it is to be human. He humorously describes all the things we need to know about or be able to do in order to be considered an adult, but running underneath the humor is the stark truth that it is hard to be an adult. One of my favorite lines in the novel comes from this chapter: “Our hearts are bars of soap that we keep losing hold of”. This chapter shows you, right up front, how skilled Backman is with metaphor–I’ve described him as the Swedish version of Terry Pratchett, in that he can make you laugh while simultaneously making you think “Wow, I never thought of it like that before.” The first chapter also sets up the plot for the rest of the book, giving the reader a summary of how things got to the point where the story starts.
The other thing that I really enjoyed about this book is the plotting. Backman jumps back and forth in time, giving you snippets of other things that happened which have surprising connections to the story being told. He builds a narrative with bits and pieces without making it feel disjointed. As a matter of fact, I found myself drawn even further into the book as a result. More than one chapter ends with something happening that made me say “What??” out loud and race to turn to the next page.
One of the most intriguing themes running through the book is that of truth. Backman tells you the truth through the whole novel, but never too much of it at any one time, making you descend down through layers of what is true to slowly reveal the whole picture. Each time he does it, you get a different perspective on the story until finally, at the end, you can look back and see how he brought you there and understand the novel on several levels.
And for me, that’s what this novel is: it’s something true. It’s something that I related and continue to relate to on a visceral level. Each character shows you their strengths, their idiocies, and their raw humanity. While you’re reading this story, you’re also being reassured that while being human is hard, you’re not alone in feeling that way. And it gives you hope that things can turn out all right in the end, that people can find their better angels, and that being an idiot isn’t all that bad sometimes.
I know that this is less of a review and more of a “Why Kristin will rave about this novel at the drop of a hat” article, but having a novel speak to me this strongly is rare. There are very few books that I have re-read as many times as I have this one. It’s a comfort read, something that can make me laugh and remind me that I’m not the only anxious person out there. I hope that you’ll pick up this book too and find something in it that speaks to you as well.
