Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Seven: Britt-Marie Was Here

I enjoyed A Man Called Ove so much when I read it this summer that I knew I'd want to read some of Fredrik Backman's other novels, but I didn't want to gobble them all up at once.  Still, when I needed something that I knew would brighten up these dreary December days, I decided it was time to read another of his books, and I chose Britt-Marie Was Here.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, although--or perhaps because--it's fairly similar to A Man Called Ove, though with an undertone of female empowerment as our hero, a woman in late middle age, decides to leave her cheating husband and get a job.  But the only job she can get takes her to Borg, a small town that has been crushed by the global financial crisis.  Despite her misgivings and peculiarities, Britt-Marie, as one might expect, finds herself connecting with the people in the town and learning about herself as a person on her own, not just as someone's daughter, sister, and wife.  It's an empowering story about a woman finally deciding to recognize and go after what she wants in life, and I really enjoyed reading it.  If you liked A Man Called Ove or are looking for a character-driven story, give Britt-Marie Was Here a try.