A Man Called Ove

 By Fredrik Backman

Adult Fiction

Reviewed by Heidi from the Winkler Branch

Trigger Warning: This book discusses grief, loss and suicide.

    A Man Called Ove is Fredrik Backman's first and highly beloved novel about a grumpy old man navigating the loss of his wife.  Ove is a bitter, forced retiree who spends his days enforcing neighbourhood association rules that nobody cares about and criticizing people's lives.  This attitude has left him with very few friends and with the loss of his wife, he shuts out the world completely.  That is, until a boisterous couple moves in next door and runs over his mailbox.  In a no driving zone!  This couple throws a wrench in his plans and completely ruins his scheduled life.  The process of Ove embracing life again is sweet, heart breaking, and laugh out loud funny.  By the end of it, you may even want to embrace the curmudgeons in your life a little more warmly.

    This book has been made into two movies.  A Man Called Ove released in 2015 in Swedish and A Man Called Otto starring Tom Hanks, released this year.

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