Fredrik Backman (born 2 June 1981) is a Swedish author of many best sellers.

Translation of My Friends (2025) is excellent, so far as I can tell.

Always interesting and original, this time the author wrote mostly a philosophical look at friendship:

• Ted and the painter (KimKim)
• Louisa and Fish
• Ted and Louisa
• 4 teenage friends (Ted, Joar, Ali, and KimKim)

It’s dark with far too many deaths. Poverty, abuse, hatred and ugliness of humanity. But very funny, as well.

Mouthy Louisa is an outrageous teenager. Very believable. I wonder if Backman modelled her on some young person he knows. 😀

A story that alternates between two timelines: the present-day journey of an 18-year-old named Louisa, who is grieving the loss of her best friend, and the past, 25 years earlier, when four teenage friends—Joar, Ted, Ali, and the artist C.J. Jat—spent a transformative summer together.

Their friendship and shared secrets lead to the creation of a world-famous painting, which Louisa discovers and becomes obsessed with. Louisa’s journey to learn the story behind the painting connects her own grief to the past lives of the four friends, exploring themes of friendship, loss, trauma, and the healing power of art and human connection.

A.I. summary

“This is Fredrik Backman at the height of his empathy and resonance. . . I frequently paused to marvel at the way Backman captured the rebellion of joy, the ferocity of devotion, and the cruelty of indifference. Every Backman book should come with the warning that your heart will be split in two, but also, more importantly, with the assurance that it will be repaired with restored faith in the small miracles of being human.” —NPR, Favorite Fiction Reads of 2025