Beartown

Genre: Fiction

This is the story of a small town suffering an economic decline and is relying heavily on the talents and hard work of its young hockey team to lift itself up, in the form of a hockey championship win. We meet the coaches and their families, the young boys on the team and others living in the town. The championship is coming up, but a devastating incident has happened (off the ice) that might destroy all of the hard work the kids and grown ups have put into getting this team to succeed. Will this town choose to do the easy thing or the right thing? This story handles the worst of situations in the best of ways by addressing families, friendships and perseverance.

I really enjoyed Backman's A Man Called Ove and Britt-Marie Was Here. I was frankly worried about reading Beartown as the first two books had some repetition in theme. They were both about individuals who had lost their way but through friendship and love, found their own voices. I really loved both books, but I was not sure that I wanted a third book about the same thing. It is, thankfully, different. I was also very pleased to see that Backman’s beautiful, rhythmic writing (the rhythm is palpable), his ability to get to the heart of people's motives and behaviors and his uncanny descriptions of his characters' feelings were all still very much present in this book. With this book we get to know, really know, the people both as individuals and as a group, a mass, which has added a whole new level of understanding. Backman does an incredible job addressing big social issues such as rape, suicide, and more both from the perspective of individuals, but also from the perspective of a group and community. I hope you get a chance to read this one. But, be warned, you won't want to put it down until it's finished.