For someone who has multiple times claimed that she “does not really read or really like translated fiction” I sure be picking up a ton of translated fiction recently. The latest being My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologies. Despite the obnoxiously long title, it is such a great book!
My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises by Fredrik Backman
5 out of 5
Dates read: 09 July 2022 to 19 July 2022
Length: 342 pages
First published in 2016 by Sceptre
Recommended by: My friend, Amy (@amysreading_nook)
Available to order from Amazon, Waterstones, Bookdepository
Trigger warnings: Death, grief
Blurb: Everyone remembers the smell of their grandmother’s house. Everyone remembers the stories their grandmother told them. But does everyone remember their grandmother flirting with policemen? Driving illegally? Breaking into a zoo in the middle of the night? Firing a paintball gun from a balcony in her dressing gown?
Seven-year-old Elsa does. Some might call Elsa’s granny ‘eccentric’, or even ‘crazy’. Elsa calls her a superhero. And granny’s stories, of knights and princesses and dragons and castles, are her superpower. Because, as Elsa is starting to learn, heroes and villains don’t always exist in imaginary kingdoms; they could live just down the hallway.
As Christmas draws near, even the best superhero grandmothers may have one or two things they’d like to apologise for. And, in the process, Elsa can have some breath-taking adventures of her own …
My thoughts: There’s truly something about Fredrik Backman, and the incredibly talented translator Henning Koch – they are both absolutely brilliant. Koch is definitely one of my favourite translators, because I would never been able to tell this was a translated book! A Man Called Ove is (so far!) my favourite 2022 read and I was really looking forward to reading their other works. So naturally, being a nana’s kid, I picked up My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises.
My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises is quite different to AMCO, but at the same time the characters in both of the books really just find a way to your heart. Even those you dislike in the beginning! Author’s writing skills are exquisite – there aren’t many I could name that can make me simultaneously well up with tears and laugh out loud. And this is a second book by the same author that has had this kind of effect on me.
It is slow and different, for sure, and it requires a ton of imagination, but goddamn I had such a great time reading it.
I’m really excited to read more from this author. Britt-Marie Was Here and Beartown are already patiently waiting for their turn on the unread shelf.
Have you read any books by Backman? Which one is your favourite?
