My Friends
- Judith D Collins
- Jul 17
- 7 min read
By: Fredrik Backman
Narrator: Marin Ireland
Simon & Schuster Audio
ISBN: 978-1982112820
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: 05/06/2025
Format: Other
My Rating: 5 Stars + (ARC)
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#1 New York Times bestselling author Fredrik Backman, who “captures the messy essence of being human” (The Washington Post), returns with an unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a stranger’s life twenty-five years later.
Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an artist herself, knows otherwise and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures.
Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their difficult home lives by spending their days laughing and telling stories out on a pier. There’s Joar, who never backs down from a fight; quiet and bookish Ted who is mourning his father; Ali, the daughter of a man who never stays in one place for long; and finally, there’s the artist, a boy who hoards sleeping pills and shuns attention, but who possesses an extraordinary gift that might be his ticket to a better life. These four lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream.
Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be put into eighteen-year-old Louisa’s care. As she struggles to decide what to do with this bequest, she embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn the story of how the painting came to be. The closer she gets to the painting’s birthplace, the more she feels compelled to unleash her own artistic spirit, but happy endings don’t always take the form we expect in this fresh testament to the transformative power of friendship and art.
My Review
Master storyteller (favorite author) and #1 NYT bestselling author Fredrik Backman returns with another powerful and moving tale—MY FRIENDS —emotional, witty, and heartwarming—Backman's classic signature style and what keeps readers returning to his thoughtful and inspiring stories.
MY FRIENDS is a testament to the enduring, transformative power of friendship and art. It's a story that will inspire and fill you with hope.
Top books of 2025!
About...
Four teens whose friendship creates a bond that changes a stranger's life twenty-five years later.
Louisa, age eighteen, is an aspiring artist (a survivor) who is intrigued by three figures at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. She is determined to find the story behind these three enigmatic figures.
In a nearby seaside town, twenty-five years earlier, a group of teens find refuge from their troubled home life by spending long summer days on an abandoned pier. They bond with one another as they share their secrets and dreams.
Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be placed into eighteen-year-old Louisa’s care. She embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn the origins of the painting and decide what to do with it.
My thoughts...
Find your tribe! More than just finding friends, it's about finding people who truly resonate with you on a deeper level and share your dreams. An ode to friendship, art, creativity, and literature for hope and healing.
A masterpiece! Beautifully rendered, MY FRIENDS is a dazzling coming of age; of friendship, hope, and humor— told in two alternating timelines with the four childhood friends one transformative summer. Their close bond inspires a painting that decades later becomes famous.
Backman's skill lies in creating characters that are not only relatable but also feel like friends. He explores universal themes of friendship, loss, and resilience, infusing his stories with humor and life lessons that resonate deeply with readers.
In the present timeline, Louisa, age eighteen, is grieving the loss of her best friend. She finds her only comfort in the form of a picture postcard with a painting printed on it, a postcard she took from one of the many foster homes where she lived. This painting, which she later discovers is the work of the four childhood friends, becomes a symbol of hope and connection for her.
Then, the original painting and a cross-country journey to solve the mystery, and how the artwork will connect to her life and the teens in the painting.
The past is a story of a young artist, age fourteen, from a rundown town with divorced parents and a gang of friends that a teacher once described as 'a pack of wild animals.' The painting known as 'The One of the Sea,' is a significant piece of art created by the four childhood friends. Despite their troubled backgrounds, they find solace and inspiration in each other's company, and this painting becomes a symbol of their bond and shared experiences.
Joar, Ted, Ali, and the artist (who painted the famous painting).
Despite the challenges they face, the friends' journey is a testament to the human spirit's resilience. Their struggles and triumphs will resonate deeply with you, the reader, leaving you feeling uplifted and inspired.
To them, “Tomorrow” is a promise, a strength they offer each other to get through the evenings—because though their days are filled with sunshine and hanging out and laughing together at a pier in their seaside hometown, their evenings are filled with abuse, anger, frustration, and pain.
I love this part: "Children have two worlds, they have been given and the one they can dream about, but not even the artist had enough imagination to believe it was possible to paint his way out of there."
For Joar, art was love. Grief. A story. A context.
'The One of the Sea.' The art he created one day when he called himself a different name. He was shy and broken, and the buyers loved that. He was a loner, and the less he had to give, the more everyone wanted. It was about where it all began.
As with all of Backman's novels, which I adore, they are thought-provoking, insightful, full of wisdom, life lessons, and a bit of hope, dreams, friendship, acceptance, and redemption with unforgettable characters you care about.
Witty, heartfelt, and wise. (I think I have read them all) There is often sadness, loss, grief and the messiness and complexities of life but there is also hope, joy, friendship, love, and second chances. The novel beautifully explores these themes.
Fredrik Backman and Catherine Ryan Hyde are two of my favorites when it comes to the human spirit, with multi-generational characters and timelines who learn from one another. Backman eloquently captures the young and old. Full of compassionate characters and vivid descriptions. He writes from the heart, and it is reflected in his work.
I also just finished Wally Lamb's The River Is Waiting (also on my top books of 2025 list) and in this book like MY FRIENDS there is art that comes from pain (expressed). Still, something beautiful and also in this book are the characters (with water tubes floating down a river) he added in a mural that only certain people noticed and was able to see and remember their loss for a beautiful story through art, as in this book.
I enjoyed the characters' meeting for a poignant journey of trust and unexpected hope. Their journey is a testament to the power of friendship and the resilience of the human spirit, and it will leave you feeling hopeful.
I adored the interview and dedication: “To anyone who is young and wants to create something. Do it.” The entire story came out of that.
Deeply philosophical and thought-provoking, an ideal book club pick for further discussions. Highly recommend.
Interview . I enjoyed the USA Today interview with Backman. He is an introvert (like myself). He is so talented and has a huge following that he could self-publish and wouldn't need to travel, tour, or attend public events. Please leave him alone and let him write. He has a gift, and his books touch the young and old across the world. Never stop writing, my friend. We will still buy anything you write and watch your movies. In our world today, we need these stories.
Recs...
MY FRIENDS is for all the dreamers out there and super fans of the author, as well as those who enjoy works by Catherine Ryan Hyde, Elizabeth Berg, Mitch Albom, Kevin Wilson, Richard Paul Evans, and Matt Haig's humor, emotion, and quirky characters.
Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for providing an advanced review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts. Always an honor to read one of Fredrik Backman's books. This is one for the bookshelf to pull out and read time and time again.
Audiobook...
I am currently listening to the audiobook I purchased and will add to my review once I have finished, narrated by the talented Marin Ireland!
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars +
Pub Date: May 6, 2025
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Praise
“A sweeping saga about young people, art and the way creativity connects friends and strangers across generations. . . . If you’ve read A Man Called Ove, you know Backman can be depended on to show how small the world is, and how fragile. He does it again here, this time with Stand by Me vibes.”
—The New York Times
“[A] moving ode to friendship and creativity, in Backman’s signature striking style.”
—People
“Irrepressible humor, boundless grief, and eternal loyalty coalesce in Backman’s tribute to youthful imagination and unfettered faith in art’s power to heal and nurture.”
—Booklist (starred review)
“In My Friends, Backman again pays tribute to the forces that make an ordinary life extraordinary. By focusing his tremendous empathy on the power of art and friendship, he has created a novel that celebrates the beauty of being alive.”
—BookPage (starred review)
“Backman delivers a wistful story about the power of friendships. . . . The author is at the top of his game.”
—Publisher’s Weekly
About the Author
Fredrik Backman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, Britt-Marie Was Here, Beartown, Us Against You, Anxious People, The Winners, My Friends, as well as two novellas and one work of nonfiction. His books are published in more than forty countries. He lives in Stockholm, Sweden, with his wife and two children. Connect with him on Facebook and X @BackmanLand and on Instagram @Backmansk. WEBSITE
