Bookmark: Anxious People by Frederik Backman

You know the feeling when you read the first page of a book and can tell that the author resonates with you? It feels akin to a stranger who carries themself in such a way that you feel at ease around them. . . as if they know you without knowing you. If you don't know that feeling, I wish it upon you. If you do? This was Backman to me.

Anxious People: The story revolves around a bank robber who stumbles into an apartment viewing after failing to actually carry out a bank robbery (I know. A little giggle escaped my mouth too when I was reading). Those viewing the apartment: a banker, a young lesbian couple expecting a child, and posh elderly woman — to name a few, are held hostage. All their unlikely stories come together to reveal core human truths we all face in life, all while two cops give us sneak peaks into the future of how this hostage situation will close.

Keeping track of multiple characters and their backstories can feel as overwhelming as entering a party alone and where everyone is a stranger, but Backman does the excellent job of being the socially adept friend. He helps make introductions and shares key information only when enjoyable and necessary. The values certain characters hold, and how their stories formed such opinions or problems truly unfolds in a way that I can only describe as organic. Rather than a reader being introduced to characters, I found myself laughing, crying, or enthralled by each small piece of information I was given. The plot has the added benefit of introducing the small mysteries that entangle each character to another, so if mystery is your forté this book pulls at those curiosity strings.

At its simplest, this book is a story of how in an unlikely scenario people become the unlikeliest of friends and the acknowledgement of burdens we all carry. My jaw dropped at several lines that Backman wrote. His prose unfolds itself so humbly and quickly before you that you aren't sure if you should go back to admire a sentence you've finished reading, or rush to experience the next. I found a plethora of unforgettable truths and my heart ached at the amount of nuance Backman could imbue in simple sentences. A sigh, a flicker of curiosity, the catch of one's breath— our heaviest emotions and our anxieties behind them were all captured effortlessly but with lightness.

For: 

the over-thinkers, over-forgiving children, the first-time fathers, and anyone who needs a reminder that it's okay to not know because it's your first time living