Bear Town and Us Against You

When you like the book of an author, there is a natural urge to read the rest of his books. This has been my habit since childhood. I loved "My grandmother sends her regards and apologises" by Fredrik Backman and followed it with "Brit Marie was here." There was also a connection to the books and its characters. Both the books were unputdownable and I fell in love with the characters. This led to my reading "A man called Ove" and then "Anxious People."

When I spotted "Beartown" and "Us Against You" in my local bookstore I had to pick it up. Like how Ove lingers in your head long after the book is shelved, the characters in these two books also remain for a long time in your thoughts. The way the characters are etched in each of his books appeal to me. 

In Beartown, the story is built around a small town located amid a large Swedish forest which for most of the year is covered in snow. The only sport in town is ice hockey and the people of the town are obsessed with the sport. The people are close enough, but a violent act by a player and what happens afterwards to divide the people and how hatred fills up in their minds make up the rest of the story. The characters of Benji, Fatima and Jeanette the teacher, Maya and Ana help in keeping you hooked to the book till the last page.

It is better to read Beartown before Us Against You as you would get a better picture of all the characters and families that are involved.

Us Against You talks about two teams from Hed and Beartown. The story is about the aftermath of the violent act of a star player of Beartown, who leaves town when things get ugly. A devious politician enters the town to make things further difficult for Peter the general manager of the hockey club. How politics affects the ethos of the small town, how some people despite their personal differences try and pull it together and form a team to play their favourite sport of ice hockey makes up the rest of the story.

The story reveals how the sporting society is even prepared to let people live above the law if it could be useful to the economy.The characters in the book feel trapped by their careers, circumstance and their sexuality and they struggle to cope with it. How each of the characters manage to overcome their situation and try to move on is the crux of the story.

I would recommend both books as "Must Read."