Fredrik Backman became a bestselling author after the publication of his first novel, A Man Called Ove, in 2013. It was adapted into a movie twice (once in Swedish and once in English with Tom Hanks), and he’s followed it up with nine more novels, including Anxious People in 2020.
The Iron Book Discussion Group will read Anxious People, a story of a hostage situation gone horribly (and humorously) wrong, next month.
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BOOK DESCRIPTION: 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.
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Copies of Anxious People can be picked up from the Book Discussion Shelf on our first floor, and it’s available digitally as an ebook (through Overdrive/Libby) and an audiobook (through Overdrive/Libby).
An in-person discussion of Anxious People will be held at the library on Tuesday, July 9, at 7:00 PM. No registration is required to attend.
And an online discussion of the book will be held via Zoom on Thursday, July 11, at 3:00 PM. If you’d like to attend the online discussion, please register through our Event Calendar. Participants will receive an email with the login information for Zoom after registering.
Published on June 14, 2024.
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