Brenda's Reviews > A Man Called Ove

Ove was lonely in the little house that he had lived in with Sonja for as long as a lifetime it seemed. But with his rigid principles, his daily routine and rules, he had no desire to come into contact with any of his neighbours. Especially since he and Rune, who lived down the street, had fallen out. And that had been the way of it for decades. His only love now was his Saab. Ove was the typical grumpy old man – never happy, arguing with everyone – but deep down, so deep he wasn’t even aware of it, Ove had a heart of gold.

The day that he heard an ominous crunch come from outside his house, too close to be anywhere but his house, was the day his life began to change. That day was to see the arrival of a pregnant Parvaneh and her husband Patrick plus their two young daughters, a three year old and a seven year old. When they moved into the house right next door to Ove, he had no intentions of even acknowledging them – he couldn’t have an interruption to his routine now could he? Slowly but surely though, Ove’s grumpy nature was ignored by Parvaneh – she could see something deep within Ove that no-one else could see…

What an absolutely delightful novel! There is sadness and heartbreak, happiness and many laugh out loud moments. It is extremely profound and deeply moving. This is a debut novel by Swedish author Fredrik Backman, and one I have no hesitation in recommending extremely highly. (Many thanks Carol for the recommendation).

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy to read and review.