A hostage situation, eight strangers, and a Swedish author who understands human anxiety better than any therapist.
A failed bank robber walks into an apartment open house and takes eight strangers hostage. That is the premise, and it is less about the crime than about what eight people reveal about themselves when there is nowhere to hide. Backman gives us a retired couple avoiding their marriage, a bank director haunted by guilt, a young couple arguing about their unborn child, an 87-year-old woman who is entirely unimpressed by the gun, and a real estate agent trying desperately to close a deal. The robber is also, it turns out, a person. The book is structured as an investigation after the fact, with interrogation transcripts and shifting perspectives, and the real mystery is not who the robber was but why the hostages are all lying about what happened.
Marin Ireland is the reason this audiobook works as well as it does. She voices eight distinct characters across nearly ten hours — each one recognizable immediately, each one treated with the same precision and warmth that Backman brings to the page. The comedy lands in her delivery in ways that might feel labored in print. The grief, which accumulates quietly throughout and arrives in force near the end, is handled with restraint that makes it more effective. Audible editors named her performance one of the best of 2020.
Essential for listeners who have ever felt like they were performing their life rather than living it — which, Backman suggests, is all of us. Also ideal for anyone who wants character-driven fiction with real humor that does not come at the expense of emotional honesty. Works particularly well on audio because the multi-character structure benefits from distinct voices.
Skip it if you are allergic to deliberate sentimentality. Backman is not subtle about his intentions — he wants you to feel something specific at specific moments, and the architecture of the novel is visible once you are looking for it. Readers who found A Man Called Ove too calculated will have the same experience here.
Listen to it. Marin Ireland's performance is the definitive version of this novel. One of those audiobooks you will recommend to people who claim they do not like audiobooks.