My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry
by Fredrik Backman
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by international bestselling author, Fredrik Backman, is Ladro’s virtual book club choice for spring.
Elsa, the protagonist, is a seven-year-old, precocious girl who does not have any friends at school. Her Granny is seventy-years-old, outrageous in all the best ways, and Elsa’s only friend. From the time Elsa was very small, Granny told her bedtime stories about the mysterious Land of Never-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamis. These stories lull Elsa to sleep nightly.
Esla’s life is changing. She continues to adjust to her parents divorce. She gets acquainted with her new step-siblings, and awaits the arrival of a baby brother whom she calls, Halfy. When something happens to Granny, Elsa begins a scavenger hunt to deliver letters Granny left behind. By completing this task, Elsa meets her neighbors and Granny’s friends. She discovers many of them bear striking resemblances to characters from the Miamis stories. As Elsa learns the stories of her family and her neighbors, she finds the humanity that surrounds her will protect her.
Backman’s story ponders family dynamics and whether children and adults cope with change and loss differently. If you find you enjoy this book, you may also enjoy A Man Called Ove, which was Bachman’s first best seller. That book, which is also a movie, is reviewed well by Roger Ebert.
What the Kirkus Review had to say about Backman’s book.
If you choose to book club My Grandmother with your people, here is a list of discussion questions from the publisher.
For more information about the author, read here. For another book we recommend, read here.
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