Fredrik Backman has a magical ability to spin a story around a chorus of characters who are endearingly ordinary and make their shared narrative engaging and heartfelt.

Anxious People is lighter than Beartown & A Man Called Ove (his most popular books) but carries the same excellent writing and deeply human characters. An inept bank robber accidentally ends up with a room full of hostages & the book plays out over the course of the day as the captives, captor, and police navigate the situation. Each character brings their own baggage, fears, hopes, and dysfunctions. True to form, Backman paints them all with an honest, compassionate brush, evoking a sense kinship both among the eclectic cast and with the reader. He also makes me laugh in every book he writes, while still maintaining wholehearted sincerity.

While this is a quintessential ensemble cast story, one of the character arcs stuck out to me thanks to the tenderness shown to anxiety.

Although Zara’s coping mechanisms were incredibly acerbic, the takeaway is a grace-filled encouragement for pressing on.

It was also one of the first books I’ve read that explored the connection between anxiety & suicidal thoughts (instead of using depression as a the main catalyst).