Anxious People by Fredrick Backman came out in September 2020. For those of us who read others of Backman’s work, this was highly anticipated. Personally, I was counting down the days until the release date and ended up binge reading the book in a single day. The book is full of twists, surprises, varying perspective, and the quirky characters you should come to expect with Fredrick Backman. As the blog title says, this is not a review about the book, but I wanted to set the stage. The rights were snatched quickly, and Netflix released a limited series of Anxious People in December 2021. There will be spoilers that reference the book, so if that’s not your vibe, just go watch the show and then come back.
The six 30-minute episodes are jam packed with all the character development and nuance the book had. The show is in Swedish, but there is a British English dub and of course, subtitles available. One of the largest twists of the book is the fact the robber/hostage taker is a woman who is just trying to get money to pay rent. The rent to allow her custody of her daughters. Through the magic of television, you don’t realize that the robber is a woman until the end of the fifth episode, keeping the mystery and the intrigue alive.
The lies the hostages tell to keep the robber safe are smoothly transitioned. For a book that wasn’t necessarily dialogue heavy, they kept the spirit of unfolding the story very consistent. I don’t know Swedish, but holy heck did I love this show. I’m a purist for books being put to screen and wow did they do a great job.
