Sunday Books & Culture - Fiction
Penny Parrish reviews a complex tale of friendship in Fredrik Backman’s latest novel “My Friends.”
MY FRIENDS
by Fredrik Backman
Published by Atria Books (May 6, 2025)
Paperback $25.00
Audiobook $14.95
Reviewed by Penny A Parrish
Trying to explain what this book is about is complicated. It’s about childhood, aging, parents, train rides, and swimming off a pier. But mostly it’s about friendship between young teens who rely on each other to escape the violence or apathy in their homes. And love, a lot of this book is about love.
Louisa is about to turn 18 tomorrow, which means she no longer will be in foster care. She is reeling due to the death of her best friend Fish, and the uncertainty of her future, if she even has one. In her backpack of worldly belongings, she carries a postcard that shows a beautiful and famous painting called The One of the Sea by C. Jat. Most people who view the painting see only the water and sky, but she sees something in the corner: three friends at the end of a long pier and wants to find out who they are.
Then there is Ted. He knew the artist when they were boys. He is a timid soul, afraid of almost everything. He and Louisa are thrown together because of the painting, and share a long train ride where he tells her the “long story” of four kids, 25 years ago, and how this piece of art came to be.
Louisa and Ted could not be more different and their “conversations” on the train are funny, poignant and heartbreaking. Backman manages to put all of those emotions into the space of one paragraph. As Ted tells stories, he cannot understand Louisa’s reactions – tears, laughter, fear, confusion – to events that happened 25 years ago. But Louisa tells him, “Not for ME!” They are happening now for her, which is what happens to the listener when you tell stories.
Throughout this book, art takes center stage. People who buy art as an investment keep beauty from those who most need to see it. An art teacher (I use the term loosely) almost kills creativity in the artist by forcing him to draw what the teacher wants, not what the boy sees.
It is his friends who encourage him to enter a competition, and that painting becomes world famous.
Not all stories have a fairy tale ending, nor does this one. Louisa asks about one of the friends only to hear that the person is dead. “She bitterly regrets asking. Because who can make someone grieve for a person they never even knew, so that it hurts this much.” Fredrick Backman can. Have multi-tissues on hand for this one, as tiny shards of wisdom break through between friends old and new. And if you think you figured out the ending, you’ll be wrong.
There are 73 people waiting for this book at Central Rappahannock Regional Library, so my copy goes back today. Stay on the wait list, it’s worth it.
Penny A Parrish is a local writer and photographer. You can see her pictures at her website.
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