4.5 stars This is the first book I've read by Fredrik Backman. I was a little afraid of the hype and what it might mean, since popular, character-driven titles are often too despairing for me to enjoy. The narrator's warm, reasonable, slightly cheeky tone set me at easy almost at once, and I relaxed into this delightful puzzle of a tale.

On the surface, this is a book about a desperate parent who fails at a bank robbery, accidentally takes hostage a group of prospective apartment buyers, strains the already strained relationship of a father and son police team, and unwittingly reveals the idiocy, wisdom, love, and humanity in us all.

It's an entertaining read that engages your heart and brain. Yes, there's melancholy and grief, and the kind of fear and desperation that makes us all act our worst sometimes. But despair has no place in this hopeful book about quirky strangers, the ties that bind us into human community, and the assurance that we're all more than our struggles and better than the worst things we've done (that's from Sister Prejean, not Fredik Backman or the lovely literary quotes found in this book, but it fits nonetheless).

Content notes: suicide, contemplated suicide, divorce, death of loved ones, addiction, alcohol, smoking, anxiety, therapy, firearms

My thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for a digital ARC.