A bank robbery turned hostage drama, at an open house a day before New Year’s, forms the backdrop to Fredrik Backman’s dramedy and one of my favourite books, Anxious People. Riddled with connections that domino into place as the book progresses, the story follows a bank robber who unwittingly attempts to rob a cashless bank and ends up holding eight people at an apartment viewing hostage. The detectives in charge have never faced a situation like this in their small town but would not fathom calling over the big city professionals- the Stockholmers- to diffuse the situation.
Those in the apartment, the bank robber, the prospective buyers and their real estate agent, form an eclectic bunch- from demure and stone-faced bank manager, Zara to the jittery soon-to-be parents, Julia and Ro. Mismatched Anna-Lena and Roger, a rabbit, the skittish real estate agent and elderly Estelle are the others forming the hostage group. And all of them are anxious.
The story follows the hostage drama, and the hostages, and how our amateur police officers take care of the absurd situation (using a lot of Google to do so). It is bemusingly endearing and Backman does a wonderful job in the characterisation of each individual, as we gradually sympathise and fall in love with the oddness and idiosyncrasies of the ragtag bunch in the apartment. In the book’s same humorous vein, Backman also touches upon life and death, love and divorce, mental illness and parenting and marriage. His observations are poignant and beautifully put, while still keeping the story buoyant and playful.
Anxious People and its misfit cast show us the trials that come with the ‘idiotically difficult’ nature of being human. A beautifully written book, Backman writes about our anxieties on life and love while reminding us how deeply connected we all really are.