Peace In The Margins

It isn’t often I find a book that grabs my heart and pierces my soul, but A Man Called Ove did just that. I hold the belief that books and authors come into your life at destined moments. Fredrik Backman’s novel found me just a few months following the passing of my grandmother much like it’s main character Ove. Ove is a grumpy old man whose wife, Sonja, died six months earlier. While this is a story about death, it is also dealt with how we live post-loss and in spite of the hopelessness that accompanies grief.

I don’t know if I would have picked this book up on my own, but thanks to Anne Bogel’s recommendation coupled with the recent loss in my own life, I did indeed embark on this journey. A journey through the memories of a husband’s mind as he does the best he can to cope with the death of his beloved soul mate.

“Ove had never been asked how he lived before he met her. But if anyone had asked him, he would have answered that he didn’t.”

Even as a translation, the writing is wonderful and easy to digest, but it is the story that pulls you in and won’t let go. Early on we learn that Ove is a right is right with absolutely no gray area kind of guy who has a certain way all tasks should be done if they are to be done correctly. Snow should be shoved, never blown off of driveways – how else can the perfectly symmetrical lines along the edge of the concrete be maintained?

Great books always have great conflict. Ove’s conflict is both internal and external. Internally, he isn’t handling Sonja’s death well at all and devises a plan to make everything better. I won’t tell you what that plan is – you’ll just have to read the book. But I will tell you that at every turn of him trying to fulfill his plan something thwarts his efforts (I love that word – THWART).

Metaphorically, if our loved ones are able to look after us in their afterlife, that Sonja is the one interfering with Ove’s plans (maybe in the guise of that blasted cat). She and the new neighbors are the external conflict – oh but what an irritatingly, joyful conflict they are. Get your hankies out, because this one will rock you to your very core. A Man Called Ove gets a very highly recommended from me.

An Unsolicited Review.