Fredrik Backman’s novel My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry is a brilliantly witty story told from the viewpoint of seven-year-old Elsa. Elsa isn’t like most seven year olds—she spends her days breaking into zoos and convincing policemen of her innocence, and her nights fantasizing about the Kingdom of Miamas, a place where her grandmother’s tales come to life.
The novel picks up in the wake of Elsa’s grandmother’s death, who in her death has left Elsa the harried task of finding and bequeathing letters to those her grandmother wronged. The story is intensely original, clever, heartbreaking, and quickly became one of my all-time favorite books.
A tale of fitting in, standing out, and everything in between, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry reminds readers that–although growing up isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be–moments of bliss and lightheartedness do exist.