At a glance
Pages448
First published2025
SettingSweden, dual timeline spanning 25 years
Reading time~13h
AudienceAdult
ISBN1982112824
About the Author
Fredrik Backman1 book reviewed
My Friends
A Novel
by Fredrik Backman
LuvemBooks Verdict
Best for: Readers who loved the community warmth and grief-soaked humour of Backman's A Man Called Ove or Anxious People and are drawn to stories where a single work of art — here, a painting of three figures on a pier — serves as the hinge between generations and strangers.
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My Friends is Fredrik Backman's dual-timeline novel tracing the fierce bond of four teenage friends — Joar, Ted, Ali, and a fourth who becomes a painter — whose friendship produces a painting so resonant it alters the life of a young woman named Louisa twenty-five years later. A #1 New York Times bestseller and winner of the 2025 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Fiction, the novel earned starred reviews from BookPage and Publishers Weekly for Backman's empathy and storytelling craft at their peak. It is ideal for readers who prize emotional depth and ruminative pacing over plot momentum, though those new to Backman's warm, wistful, comedic register may need time to calibrate before the novel fully lands.
- Is it worth reading?
- For readers who connect with Backman's signature blend of warmth, wit, and emotional depth, My Friends represents the author at the top of his game — a phrase used verbatim in a starred Publishers Weekly assessment. BookPage, also in a starred review, wrote that Backman has 'created a novel that celebrates the beauty of being alive' by focusing his empathy on the power of art and friendship. The dual-timeline architecture and the painting as a generational hinge give it a distinctive shape that sets it apart from his earlier work. The key caveat: at 448 pages with a ruminative pace, it rewards patient readers rather than those seeking plot momentum.
- Similar books
- Readers drawn to My Friends will find kindred titles in the curated selection below. Taylor Jenkins Reid's Malibu Rising shares the multigenerational sweep and emotionally charged ensemble dynamics. Elizabeth Strout's Tell Me Everything offers the same quiet, empathetic examination of human connection and grief. Kaveh Akbar's Martyr! and Maggie Shipstead's Great Circle both use a central artistic or life-defining obsession as a narrative hinge across time — much as Backman uses the painting. Backman's own A Man Called Ove and Anxious People are the most natural on-ramp for readers new to his voice, though they are not currently in the LuvemBooks catalogue.
- Who should read this?
- My Friends is best suited to adult readers who responded to the community-and-grief dynamics of Backman's A Man Called Ove or Anxious People. Those drawn to stories where a single object — here, a painting of three figures on a pier — serves as a hinge between generations and strangers will find the premise particularly compelling. It also appeals to readers interested in friendship as a generative, creative force rather than merely a comfort, and to those who enjoy dual-timeline structures that reward patience. Readers who prefer plot-driven fiction or find blended sentiment-and-comedy styles uneven should approach with managed expectations.
- What are the main themes?
- My Friends explores friendship as a generative, almost artistic force — the idea that knowing another person so completely that the bond itself becomes capable of creating something lasting. Loss, grief, the complications of love, and the possibility of second chances are consistent Backman preoccupations that run through the novel. The centrality of the painting — depicting three tiny figures on a pier — focuses the thematic lens on visual art as a vessel for memory, intimacy, and unexpected hope. The Chicago Review of Books describes the book as 'a tender heartwarming novel exploring the challenges and joys of life itself, of loving and trusting others, of unexpected change and unexpected hope.'
- Is it a good book club pick?
- My Friends is a strong book club choice, with its dual-timeline structure, the symbolic painting, and its themes of friendship, art, loss, and unexpected hope all generating rich discussion. Its Fallon Book Club Pick designation affirms its suitability for group reading, and its presence on year-end lists from USA Today, Marie Claire, and Real Simple indicates broad appeal across readerships. The 448-page length and ruminative pacing are worth noting for clubs that prefer brisker reads, but the thematic depth more than compensates for the time investment.
- What awards has it won?
- My Friends has an exceptional awards record for a 2025 novel. It spent twelve weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List, reaching number one on August 17, 2025, and won the 2025 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Fiction. It was shortlisted for a British Book Award for Fiction Book of the Year and named a May Indie Next List Top Pick by the American Booksellers Association. The audiobook won the Libby Audiobook of the Year and received an Audie Award nomination for Fiction. Starred reviews from both BookPage and Publishers Weekly round out a reception described as emphatic.
Summarize this book
Is it worth reading?
Who should read this?
What are the main themes?
Is it a good book club pick?
What awards has it won?
Summarize this book
My Friends follows two intertwined timelines separated by roughly twenty-five years. In the past, four teenage friends — Joar, Ted, Ali, and a fourth who becomes a painter — form an extraordinarily close bond that produces a painting: three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier, so intimate it becomes one of the most famous images of its kind. In the present, a young woman named Louisa encounters that painting and finds her life altered by it. The novel, published by Atria Books in May 2025, explores what it means to know another person so completely that the bond itself becomes a creative act capable of outlasting its makers.
Follow up
What is the painting about?
Who is Louisa?
Is this Backman's last book?
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Age & Reading Level
Recommended age
Adult
Reading level
Adult
Content to know about
grief and loss
themes of friendship, mortality, and creative legacy
Skip if you prefer plot-driven fiction over ruminative, emotionally layered storytelling
Editorial Review
My Friends is Fredrik Backman's dual-timeline novel about four teenage friends whose fierce bond — and the art it inspires — reaches across twenty-five years to change a stranger's life. Published by Atria Books in May 2025, it became a #1 New York Times bestseller, won the 2025 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Fiction, and earned starred critical praise for its empathy and emotional range.
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