My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman

Another great book about personal relationships among a disparaging group of people!  Granny is a bit of an oddity and Elsa loves her dearly. I laughed at the antics between the two and the escapades they encountered. What I really liked about this book is how each letter told a story and how we learned about the interconnected nature of the tenants and the house as we did. 

Granny was way ahead of her time. She did everything folks told her she couldn’t but when her granddaughter was born she came back to care for her in a way she had not done for her own daughter, Urlika.  A doctor by profession, Granny would take lost cases in if she could not heal them.  Seemingly complete strangers were very connected. Everyone had a sad tale, a need of rescuing, a fear to overcome and she gave them all a place to do that even though she sometimes made life more difficult for them.

I liked the way her helped Elsa overcome her Granny’s death by giving her a friend in the wurse.  What child doesn’t like a dog.  Elsa was afraid of the dog to begin with. After all, it was living with the Monster. Personally, I think the dog is lucky to have survived all the sweets and mulled wine it consumed! Elsa overcame each fear she had by delivering the letters left by Granny. Each time she got scared she remembered the fairytales she had been told. She was surprised to realize she knew each of the players and they lived with her in the house.

Elsa is a bright little girl. She likes things right! She loves science, super heroes, grammar and the wurse. I found it interesting that she was also bullied at school because she was more mature than her peers. The ways she grows as a person is amazing.  She pays attention to details. She does not hesitate to say what is on her mind. The relationship with her own mother develops as does the relationships to the others.  I think her grandmother was correct to leave the house to her. 

Other characters are equally interesting. Britt-Marie is the next book from this author I will probably read. I never imagined when I started the book that there were families living almost as strangers, deep secrets hidden behind closed doors and each came to light through a precocious child.

Big Little Lies by Liann Moriarity

This book has been made into a HBO series and it is not the same. The book, set in Australia, is great. The series is good too but different.  However, since this a book blog, I will deal only with the book!

Everyone has things in their lives which are not what is immediately evident to the public. We all have problems with those we love, with those in the community or with those in our work places.  Life in what we present to the outside world.  This book is so much about all these things and more.

While this is not the first book by this author, it is one of the best. She is a master of intrigue and suspense. From the early onset one does not realize the depth of secrecy and intrigue that comes with this book. Each couple appears to be normal, the children are loving and normal for their age group and strangers are just that. Little do we know that all things are interrelated! Should have suspected this having read several of her books.

Moving to a new place is always a challenge. How many of us expect to move to the source of our conflict! I must admit that the twists and turns of this book escaped my attention for a bit. Still, I was amazed at its ending.

Abuse, disjunction and secrecy are not new.  The author takes us through what is a normal process where the women work through all that happens to them. Dealing with a teenage daughter, with a divorce and co-parenting, are all issues I can imagine any modern family facing. While many of these events arise in life, hopefully, one does not deal with abuse especially to the point of death. 

I found it interesting that Ziggy was so accepting of all situations despite having the same genetic makeup as the twins. I was also intrigued that the twins were such opposites.

Great book with lots of twists to keep the reader involved.