The Winners - Fredrik Backman

Author: Fredrik Backman

Series: Beartown (#3)

Genre: Literary Fiction, Contemporary Drama.

Rating: 4.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: A fitting finale to one of the best series of recent years. Slow paced, thought-provoking, exhilarating, depressing, brilliant. This is literary fiction at its finest. Take a bow, Mr. Backman.

“All communities are the sum of their choices and all that holds us together in the end are our stories.”

You know the communities this quote refers to – Beartown and Hed. You know the stories of their residents – the famous and the not-so-famous, the achievers and the strugglers, the hockey fanatics and the uninterested. You know the choices they made and the sides they took so far. But you also know that when there are two aspects to a coin, more often than not, only one side can be the winner. If there is a winner at all.

Two years have passed since the incidents of ‘Beartown.’ Most of the characters we met in that story are still here, trying their best to put those dark days behind them and focus on what matters most in their lives – hockey, family, community. But we all know of the butterfly effect. Someone a long time ago made a wrong choice, and the repercussions of that tiny flutter will be seen now, in Beartown and in Hed, in the stormy chaos (both natural and manmade) that will drive the communities apart as strongly as will bring them together again. Will the result of these proceedings function as a stopgap arrangement or like a more permanent kintsugi? Only time will tell.

The book is written in typical Backman style. After completing this volume, I reread my reviews of ‘Beartown’ and ‘Us Against You’ (UAY) and was stunned to find how much of my feedback applies to ‘The Winners’ too. (That ought to prove how consistent Backman has been with this series.) It begins just as slowly. Even until the halfway mark, I was not sure where Backman was going with the multitude of tracks. But once the book crosses the 60% mark, the jigsaw picture starts making an appearance, and was I blown away or what! There are so many moments when I felt like yelling, "C'mon Backman! Blurt it out already!" There were also moments when I simply stared at the screen, not wanting to go ahead, too scared to confirm what I knew was coming. I found it tough to remember that this mammoth-sized tome covers just a fortnight, but it’s a fortnight that changes things forever.

For a 688 page book, having a slow first half means you are reading more than 300 pages of build-up. But even this build-up is so beautifully written. Backman inserts his literary flourishes and his musings in such a way that you can’t help but pause and ponder over them. If I were highlighting my favourite quotes, I am sure I would have noted more than a hundred. There are some dragged scenes, but that is inevitable in a book of this length. As always, there is plenty of foreshadowing, so you get a fair cue of what’s yet to unfurl. Let me forewarn you, not all the presages in the world can help prepare you for the outcome. The very first foreshadowing is right on page one, and it is going to shock you into disbelief.

I am sure you remember the key players – Peter, Kira, Maya and Leo; Ana; Benji and his sisters; Bobo and his family; Amat and his mom; Sune; Elizabeth Zackell; Ramona, Teemu and the Pack, and dare I forget little Alicia. The characters are etched so well that more than a year after I read UAY, I still remember all of them well and didn't need any refresher before beginning this final installment of the series. Every single one of them not just appears in this book but is also given an equal focus and a fitting send-off. Whether deserving or not, I won’t tell you, but Backman makes them all “the winners” in the way only he can. At the same time, we do meet new characters. Some of them stay nameless throughout, just like in the first two books. Of the new entrants, Johnny, Hannah and their family entrenched themselves strongly in my heart. What an amazing family!

One cannot forget the two non-human characters that created the right atmosphere throughout this series – the towns of Beartown and Hed. With the first book being named after the former, we all unwittingly aligned ourselves with the bears from Beartown. But it is through this book that we acknowledge Hed not as the villain but as the other side of the same coin. (India-Pakistan vibes, anyone?) I loved how Backman strengthened the Beartown-Hed bond without compromising on the rivalry between them. I could have done with a little less of the political elements (which were also present in UAY), but where there is money, fame, and rivalry, there is politics; wishing it away doesn’t make it disappear.

This book simply can't be read as a standalone. It is meant to be the last of a linked series, and only therein lies its purpose. If you haven't read Beartown AND Us Against You, this book won't make any sense to you. Better begin with book 1 and proceed sequentially through this amazing literary opus.

In short (hahaha, calling this review "short" has to be a joke!), this ALMOST gave me the finale I wanted for this beloved series. I am not happy with a couple of the subtracks, but I also acknowledge that they were the best possible outcomes for those characters/situations. The Backman Brain is unparalleled in plotting, and this entire trilogy proves it.

4.5 stars. Book one remains my favourite, but this is as fabulous (and ponderous) as UAY.

My heartfelt thanks to Simon and Schuster UK and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Winners”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.