When is it that a girl learns her dreams are less important and that she can postpone them? Is it when her parents tell her that she is no good? Unworthy? Is it when she gets married to a man who has no eyes for anything else than himself and his needs? Is it when she gives birth to the first child and she just starts by saying that she will only postpone her dreams for a couple of years, till the baby will grow?
In a way, Britt Marie is such a woman. Submissive, quiet, aiming to be seen, she accepts what her parents have to offer to her: a constant life of contempt and disappointment. A life in which she has to live in the shadow of her dead sister. It's no surprise that she married K, a man who convinced her that his dreams are more important than hers and that she can put them on hold till a) his kids will grow b) his business will be successful.
With a childhood like her own, Britt Marie learned that it is normal to give up on what she wants and needs in order to be accepted. It is only when she faces the unfaithfulness of her husband that she finds enough strength to leave and start living a life of her own. It took her 40 years...
Fredrik Backman has the gift of showing us such characters that are not easy to love in the beginning but, once you've learned to accept them and their ways, you start adoring them.
A reading which will bring you both laughter and tears.
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