Hockey. What did I care about hockey? I didn't. But the novel soon becomes about more than just the sport, about so much more than I can articulate in a review without giving too much away, but I'll try. Backman tells us early on what I was about to discover for myself.

"Why does anyone care about hockey?
...
Because it tells stories. "

Beartown is a small Swedish town in a forest that could be a small town anywhere. Maybe the sport in these towns is baseball or soccer or football. But here it is hockey. In spite of the universality of it, there is a sense of place so striking that it's like another character. This is the story of many of the town's residents - the kids, their families and how they are connected by the game, but the connections are more than just the game . There are alternating chapters, sometimes just alternating paragraphs about them, with new characters continually introduced. Somehow the continuity is never lost; someone is always linked to someone else. The narrative moves from character to character, family to family providing such an in depth picture of who they are. It takes an amazingly talented writer to do this with so many characters to keep tract of. The writing sometimes feels subtle but yet I came to intimately know these characters as I did in his other novels.

Young hockey players, coaches who are former hockey players, their spouses, mothers and fathers. It seems that just about everyone carries a burden. Some are grieving, some are lonely, some are bullied, some carry secrets, yet a few summon the strength to move forward. My favorite characters are Maya, who in the face of being victimized provides the strength and love that holds her family together and of course Ramona who lifts herself out of her grief to save the town from itself. I can't forget about Amat who wants to fit in, save his mother but faces the challenge of doing what is right and Ana the best friend that anyone could ever hope for. Backman has woven a complex story full of sadness, hope, discovery, people fighting their own demons, about parents and kids. Not all the games are won but there are triumphs of friendship, love, and doing what is right. To Fredrik Backman , I say from the heart tack sa mycket for another beautiful story.


I received an advanced copy of this from Atria through NetGalley and Edelweiss.