My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry: A Novel

Written by:
Fredrik Backman
Narrated by:
Joan Walker

Unabridged Audiobook

Ratings
Book
224
Narrator
68
Release Date
June 2015
Duration
11 hours 2 minutes
Summary
A charming, warmhearted novel from the author of the New York Times bestseller A Man Called Ove.

Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy—as in standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-strangers crazy. She is also Elsa’s best, and only, friend. At night Elsa takes refuge in her grandmother’s stories, in the Land-of-Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas, where everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal.

When Elsa’s grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has wronged, Elsa’s greatest adventure begins. Her grandmother’s instructions lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and old crones but also to the truth about fairy tales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other.

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry is told with the same comic accuracy and beating heart as Fredrik Backman’s bestselling debut novel, A Man Called Ove. It is a story about life and death and one of the most important human rights: the right to be different.
Reviews
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Lorie C

I loved the relationship between Elsa and Granny. This was a beautiful story about relationships and how, when given the chance, people can understand and love others despite their differences and flaws. This is the 3rd book of Backman’s I have read (A Man Called Ove and Bear Town). I have enjoyed them all. Backman creates characters that become part of my world—even after I’m done reading the book!

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Suzy C.

This is such a beautiful story! The characters are so well developed and seeing things through the view of the girl enhanced the enjoyment for me. This book enticed many different emotions. I will treasure this book and read it more than once.

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Cyn K.

utterly charming, I found this book by turns funny and melancholy. there's a wonderful complexity to it that unfolds as the story goes. The ending didn't quite measure up to the expectations I had created based on the delight and adventure of all that came before but I still loved the book and want to read more by Backman.

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Karey C

This novel was a delightful surprise. I laughed and cried. It is a great one, especially if you miss your grandmother.

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Myra T.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this book and the narrator is FABULOUS!!! I couldn’t wait to pick it up and listen any time I had a free few minutes—sad, honest, bittersweet, moralistic, mysterious, magical, and a look at love in its bare and many forms.

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Josiane D.

What can I say? An amazing book! Very talented reader! A must listen!

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Suzanne M.

Strange but as it wraps up the story all comes together

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Jacquelyn E.

This book was a bit hard to listen to at first for me. But I’m glad I held on. This book is magic and imagination and real life all wrapped into one.

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Marguerite V.

What a great book! made me laugh, cry, and miss the characters once the book was done. the narration is just perfect.

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Dietmar B.

The story is just incredible. The narration is also wonderful. This is storytelling at its best this is why I read!

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Lisa H.

Loved this story and hated for it to end. The characters were so well developed and quirky and enjoyable. Granny's fairy tales almost created a story within a story and there is great humor throughout (other than a part towards the end that will have you crying, but no spoilers here!). It's a great lesson and reminder that you never really know people - you can't judge the cover, you must learn the backstory to understand why folks are the way they are. And, once that's accomplished, you may actually find you've got some friends. Will definitely look for more books from this author (and hopefully, they're read by the same narrator who was a pleasure to listen to).

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Bianca1976

What a sweet story of a relationship between grandmother and granddaughter. The do over after doing it wrong the first time around and the beautiful stories of all of the tenants in an apartment house. I really enjoyed it and the narrator was great!

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Anonymous

Creative, unique story...quite beautiful. Narrator is AMAZING!

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Nancy C.

I found the book to be "hard to stop listening to it". Very intertwined plot. Characters were well developed and you get to know them. The narrator did a superior job in reading of the story - her voice was easy to listen to and she did a very good vocal characterization. I strongly recommend this book. This is my 4th book of Backman. He is becoming my favorite author at this time because his words flow.

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Eric C.

I absolutely loved this book. The title kind of makes you think it'd be a bit sad and a bit light-hearted, but the story goes deeper. A lot of the things that the characters say especially from Granny and Elsa are mean inner thoughts that people have but don't voice them, but Granny, and eventually Elsa, just say what they mean. Loved it! I read 'Britt-Marie Was Here' before this, so I was able to sympathise with the character a bit more, even though she could be a bit mean in this book.

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Jessica D.

I really enjoy the author’s writing style.

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Catherine A.

Articulate and creative.

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Jan T

This is my new favorite novel- speaks to our needs on so many levels- narayion was great! I plan to listen to all backman books!

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Karen W

I was captivated by the way the narrator described her fantasy world. So inventive and clever. Wonderful ending that me me want to recommend the book to my friends.

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Galynn J

Well, I read (heard on audio) this after reading Backman's BEAR TOWN and was expecting a lot. He certainly did not disappoint! Though this book was not at all what I expected - thinking it might be similar to BEAR TOWN. MY GRANDMOTHER ASKED... was totally different but had the wonderful threads between family, friends, pets that made Bear Town so loveable. I love the descriptive language and the individual characteristics that bring the people to life. Also the narrator was wonderful.

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Lisa M

I loved this book so much and hated for it to be over. The author did an amazing job developing the characters. I loved how the grandmother wove the life experiences of the characters living in the house/flats into her fairytales. Highly recommend this book!

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Elizabeth P

This book is so good I can’t wait to read the others

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Liz A

I concur with all the reviews about the well developed characters. The storyline of fairytales mixed with real life, so imaginative and enjoyable. The narrator was also wonderful. I truly enjoyed this audiobook experience.

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Ivelisse E

Awesome tear jerker! Loved it!! Elsa is my new super hero as well as her grandmother

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Heather L

I adored this book and all of the fabulous characters that were so well developed!!

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Paulette Campbell

I loved A Man called Ove. This book I did not. Care for but the reader did a great job.

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Nancy Hannen

Incredible. The narrator was excellent. What a genius is Fredrick Backman . Loved this book so much. Fell in love with all the characters, so real, so flawed, so human and so loved by me. Unforgetable. brilliant idea to parallel the fairy tale with real life.

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Kim Lachuta

Entertaining and really gave me a peek into the world of the bullied child. How terrifying.

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Barbara Brigham

Great writer. I started with A Man Called Uve, then my grandmother asked me to tell you she's sorry, I am now reading Britt-Marie was Here. All great reads.

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Catherine Lachance

This was a fantastic book! I would love to meet the author. Brilliant parallel between fairy tales and life. Loved it! Excellent narrator.

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Rachel Seedorf

Wonderful story! It was amazing to see all the connections between the people living in Elsa's flat as it was not expected. Great character development and writing!

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Heather Nigbor

The narrator was fabulous and only accentuated the characters. Her expressiveness underscored my understanding and interpretation of each character. I should have paid more attention to the fairytales in the beginning because my desire to skip over them came back to stall my full enjoyment of the full story. I had to go back and review the fairytales to fully grasp the brilliance of the story. Loved it!

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Natasha Brault

Not what I expected...not really about the grandmother AT ALL! Focused on the fairy tale story that I had zero interest in. Couldn't even get to the end despite making it to the last 3 chapters.

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Laura Cochran

I enjoyed this book, told from the point of view of a precocious 7 year old. It was interesting to discover the connections between the imaginary world her grandmother had created and the real world around her. I particularly enjoyed the 'unpacking' of the character of Britt-Marie. There are a lot of interesting quotes in the book and it can be very thought-provoking on the nature of family and how different people are affected by war. Overall, this is a very heartwarming, positive story. The narrator did an excellent job!

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Cindy Larson

I enjoyed all of the layers of this book. Mr. Backman is an extremely talented storyteller taking the reader (listener) through an enjoyable cerebral adventure.

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