Prepare to meet Ove; a 59 Swedish man and possibly the grumpiest, most short tempered Swede you’ll ever meet. He’s a stickler for enforcing, and making, the rules that the residents of his street must obey.

Prepare to meet Ove’s neighbours; people that Ove has absolutely no time for. In his eyes they are all idiots, incapable of doing even the simplest things for themselves and, seemingly, intent on causing as much annoyance to Ove as possible. Neighbours that do not drive Saab’s, much to the annoyance of Ove.

Prepare to meet a cat; Ove dislikes the cat.

Prepare to meet Ove; the most remarkable man, Swedish or otherwise, that you will have the pleasure to spend time with.

This is a wonderful story. Absolutely wonderful. I was hooked right from the beginning and by page 16 I was tweeting about how great it is.

Fredrik Backman, an author who I enjoyed a pleasant Twitter conversation with, has created a magical cast of characters led by the curmudgeonly Ove. This story had me laughing and crying throughout. I was even reading bits to my wife and daughter.

Sometimes foreign novels, as good as they are, can suffer from awkward translations. Not this story, it flows beautifully and is a total joy.

My only criticism? It came to an end.

The-Mustachioed-Reader

My Rating: 5.0* out of 5.0*

*****HIGHLY RECOMMENDED*****

PUBLICATION DATE: July 2014 (anticipated)

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