October 2023 Top Novel: Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

There’s something disarming about a book that can make you laugh at page one and cry by page ten. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman does exactly that, not with grand gestures or sentimental ploys, but with quiet honesty about the strange, tender mess of being human. It’s a novel about a failed bank robbery, sure, but it’s also about parenthood, forgiveness, IKEA furniture, existential dread, and the fragile dignity of strangers thrown together in an absurd situation.

The story centers on a group of hostages at an apartment open house, each with their own backstory, secrets, and emotional baggage. The would-be robber, a person who never intended to be a criminal, inadvertently holds them all at gunpoint: except the gun is a toy and the real hostage is everyone’s sense of emotional control. The plot could easily veer into farce, but Backman walks the line with skill, revealing the layers of grief, loneliness, love, and regret that tie the characters, and us, to one another.

What makes this book sing is its deep empathy. Backman doesn’t mock his characters’ anxiety or sadness. Instead, he gives it space. The characters are flawed in ways that feel familiar: a father trying to understand his daughter, a couple on the brink of collapse, a woman carrying a pain no one sees. Backman reminds us that the things that embarrass or frighten us are often the things that connect us most deeply to others.

For me, reading this felt like a conversation I didn’t know I needed. I’ve walked through my own metaphoric open houses, putting on a good face while chaos hummed just beneath the surface. Anxious People doesn’t offer easy answers, but it offers understanding. And sometimes, that’s the most comforting thing of all.

It’s hard to describe this book without spoiling its subtle genius. All I can say is this: if you’ve ever felt a little lost, a little broken, or just deeply tired of pretending everything’s fine, this book is for you.