Louisa has been in the foster care system most of her life. Her best friend has recently died, and now she is breaking into an art gallery to get a glimpse of a painting of three boys on a pier. When security guards chase her away, she hides in an ally where she bumps into a man she thinks is homeless, but who is really the famous artist of the painting she loves. The connection between the two is instantaneous, but the guards are still chasing her and she has to run away. The chance encounter changes the course of her life. She gets caught up in discovering the history of the artist, his friends, and what happened on the day that was immortalized in the painting. To help her on the path of discovery is one of the boys depicted in the painting. He is now a middle aged adult, hardened and reclusive due to all he has suffered, but when he meets the girl, he is reminded of his own youth, and he begins to talk.
I don't know of any current author who can tug on a reader's heartstrings as much as Frederik Backman. Reading the book, one cannot doubt that he had a youth similar in some way to the characters he depicts. He captures the crushing affects of abuse, the heartache of neglect, and the joy of a teenager's unfettered summer like someone who really knows what it is like. At the beginning of the book he hints that things are not going to turn out well and that the story will be a tragedy. By the end, however, even though there are some tragic elements, there is more hope that you expected. His books are quiet sentimental, but if you are in the mood for all the "feels" he really can't be beaten as a writer. (2025, 448 p.)
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