Book info

• Title My Friends
• Author Fredrik Backman
• Year 2025
• Genre Contemporary

In the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world three tiny figures sit at the end of a pier. Most people don’t even notice them. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an aspiring artist herself, knows otherwise. Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant seaside town, a group of teenagers seek refuge from their bruising home lives by spending long summer days together. They tell jokes, they share secrets, and they commit small acts of rebellion. These lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream, a reason to love. Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be placed into 18-year-old Louisa’s care. Determined to learn how it came to be and to decide what to do with it, Louisa embarks on a cross-country journey. But the closer she gets to the painting’s birthplace, the more nervous she becomes.

Thoughts

This was so good, I absolutely inhaled it. I really enjoyed a Man Called Ove so was expecting this would be good and it didn’t disappoint. Considering it’s a world I know very little about - that lonely foster home upbringing on one hand, and the rich superficial art world in the other - it was captivating. The characters were great, the way the stories were sort of drip fed really kept you engaged, and there were twists but they weren’t signalled or highlighted, they were genuine surprises. I loved it.

Rating: 5 / 5