Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

★ ★ ★ ★★ (4.5/5 stars)

Fredrik Backman’s Anxious People is a novel that manages to be both hilarious and heartbreakingly human. At its core, it’s about a failed bank robbery that turns into a hostage situation at an open house, but it quickly becomes so much more—a meditation on human frailty, mistakes, and the quiet ways people try to connect.

Backman’s strength lies in his ability to make readers deeply care about an ensemble cast of very different characters, each wrestling with their own anxieties, regrets, and insecurities. From a nervous first-time homebuyer to a struggling couple, from a thief desperate for something he cannot name to a disillusioned bank robber, every character is both painfully flawed and unexpectedly lovable.

The novel alternates between past and present, with chapters revealing the backstories that shaped each character’s decisions, often with sharp wit and tender insight. The humor is clever and self-aware, diffusing tension while allowing the emotional weight to land. The book’s real magic, though, is how Backman captures the messy, often absurd nature of life—how misunderstandings and failures can lead to profound moments of empathy and connection.

Anxious People is a story about people trying, failing, laughing, and loving. It’s warm, witty, and deeply human, offering laughs and sobering reminders that everyone carries invisible struggles. By the final page, you feel like you’ve spent time with strangers who somehow feel like family—messy, imperfect, and unforgettable.

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