Anxious People By Fredrik Backman–Online Nordic Book Club

Looking at real estate isn’t usually a life-or-death situation, but an apartment open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage. The captives: a recently retired couple with unaddressed marriage problems; a wealthy bank director too busy for relationships; an 87-year-old woman who has lived too long to be afraid of anyone; and a young couple expecting their first child, while unable to agree on anything else. Add to the mix a flustered but still-ready-to-make-a-deal real estate agent and a mystery man who has locked himself in the apartment’s only bathroom, and you’ve got the worst group of hostages in the world. But as authorities and media surround the premises, these reluctant allies will reveal surprising truths about themselves and set in motion an entirely unexpected chain of events.

Rich with Fredrik Backman’s “pitch-perfect dialogue and an unparalleled understanding of human nature” (Shelf Awareness), Anxious People is an ingeniously constructed story about the enduring power of friendship, forgiveness, and hope—the things that save us, even in the most anxious times.