Fredrik Backman’s book My friends was originally written in Swedish and its English version was published in May 2025. With each book Backman creates a magic that is beyond the limits of time, age and man made boundaries. This book by him is one that makes you smile through tears, reaffirms the faith in goodness and compels you to give a bow to this gem of an author! I’m sure in our reading journey all of us come across writers whom we connect with, who strike a cord within us, who we want to read more and more of and quite certainly Backman is that author for many!
“Art is what we leave of ourselves in other people.” In this book, with art and painting at its helm, the story takes us along a journey of the adorable friends,Christian, Joar, Ali and Ted – the proof of their friendship is that the world renowned painting is signed as C. Jat(a combination of the first letter of their names! Can any friendship be stronger?)Four teenagers from different backgrounds share a common thread – a compassionate heart! “You don’t paint things the way they look, you paint them the way they feel.” The feelings behind the painting that reaches where it is twenty five years later speaks so much about this aspect.
This story is so deftly handled – it’s from the soul and reaches the soul. Each scene, each instance, each interaction is immortal – and how! Backman understands teenagers (as wonderfully as he understands old people in most of his books from his first A man called Ove to Britt Marie was here to The deal of a lifetime to And every morning the way home gets longer and longer – the list goes on and please pick up any of these to get addicted to his kind of emotional highs!). To quote him from the book, “Our teenage years have to simultaneously be the brightest light and the darkest depths, because that’s how we learn to figure out our horizons” The line stays with you even after the book ends. That’s the power we as readers experience while reading the book. Each line envelops the reader into a warm hug – it is poignant , meaningful and hopeful.
“Fragile hearts break in palaces and dark alleys alike.” The story begins with the friendship of Louisa and Fish that starts in an orphanage. “People say life is short but he says and I believe life is long and every moment hurts when you have to live it alone.” When and how Louisa copes with loneliness and how in her darkest of times finds a friend and a purpose is what the book is made up of. It’s seriously difficult to think of any other book on friendship that is as powerful as this one.
Fredrik Backman makes you believe in goodness. “People always say that you should live as if everyday was your last, but when you have children you realize that you have to live as if everyday was their first.” His writing is simple dealing with ordinary people but the impact of it is what is extraordinary.
My Friends certainly has been the best book of 2025 for me till now. It captures your mind – it’s about growing up and growing apart and reuniting, it’s about the power of memories and how to preserve them….it makes you happy and sad at the same time and that’s the beauty of it. The narration is so bang on perfect that it makes the reader a part of it and you don’t want the book to end – it’s a beautiful world that the book creates and draws you into! I feel that in today’s life and times this book should be read by everyone to understand what is priceless in life.
Shipra Pande
As a literature and Library Science graduate I was always fascinated by the written word. Books have been my best friends forever! Passionate about reading and writing, book reviews are a fairly recent phenomenon. Sharing what I felt about a book I read serves as a finale to the process. I love playing word games, going on long walks, writing poetry in English and Hindi and creating Zentangle art. You can read my book reviews on Instagram.