Book Blurb:
Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an aspiring artist herself, knows otherwise, and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures.
Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant seaside town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their bruising home lives by spending long summer days on an abandoned pier, telling silly jokes, sharing secrets, and committing small acts of rebellion. These lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream, a reason to love. Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be placed into eighteen-year-old Louisa’s care. She embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn how the painting came to be and to decide what to do with it. The closer she gets to the painting’s birthplace, the more nervous she becomes about what she’ll find. Louisa is proof that happy endings don’t always take the form we expect in this stunning testament to the transformative, timeless power of friendship and art.
My Review: 4.5 stars
My Friends by Fredrik Backman is a study of childhood friendship, the power of art, found family, misfits, the goodness of laughter, and love. Without even realizing it, I’ve become a superfan of all things Backman. His books are puzzles waiting to connect and when they do, it’s an aha moment for the reader.
This book follows the story of four loners that become the best of friends as well as their belief in the power of art. Each of these kids have suffered from either physical abuse, ignorance, hunger or just being born into homes with not good people. I’ll say it plainly, this story is pretty dark, yet it is written with such immense brilliance that it was hard to stop reading. It’s the kind of book that keeps you reading ‘til the wee hours of the night.
There was not a character not meant to be there, nor a sentence not meant to written. Backman’s mastery comes into play as all the characters’ stories (major and minor) come together in the most meaningful of ways. It’s a long book to be sure, but worth the time and commitment to the novel. It’s a book club’s dream discussion book!
Quotes I liked:
Nothing weighs more than someone else’s belief in you.”
“Art is what we leave of ourselves in other people.”
“He was good at seeing beauty in everything, that happens if you’re no good at seeing it in yourself.”
“Being a parent is so strange, all our children’s pain belongs to us, but so does their joy.”
“When you get old, gravity pulls the corners of your mouth down, the road to a smile grows longer.”
