This novel by Fredrik Backman is certainly touching in some ways but none of the characters really engaged me. The Washington Post calls it "an unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a stranger's life twenty-five years later."
Kirkus summarizes the plot as follows: "Never in her wildest dreams would foster kid Louisa dream of meeting C. Jat, the famous painter of The One of the Sea, which depicts a group of young teens on a pier on a hot summer’s day. But in Backman’s latest, that’s just what happens—an unexpected (but not unbelievable) set of circumstances causes their paths to collide right before the dying 39-year-old artist’s departure from the world. One of his final acts is to bequeath that painting to Louisa, who has endured a string of violent foster homes since her mother abandoned her as a child. Selling the painting will change her life—but can she do it? Before deciding, she accompanies Ted, one of the artist’s close friends and one of the young teens captured in that celebrated painting, on a train journey to take the artist’s ashes to his hometown. She wants to know all about the painting, which launched Jat’s career at age 14, and the circle of beloved friends who inspired it."And they close their review with this praise: "The novel is humorous, poignant, and always life-affirming, even when describing the bleakness of the teens’ early lives. ...A tender and moving portrait about the transcendent power of art and friendship."
Publishers Weekly gushes that "The author is at the top of his game." I have to admit that I only read the first and last thirds of the book.
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