This fabulous and long (670 pages) book concludes a trilogy: previous books were Beartown and Us Against You. Backman’s writing is both heart-warming and heart-wrenching. Two remote forest towns (in Sweden but could be Canada) are intense rivals in hockey and politics. There are two funerals, impending violence and intimidation, and a ferocious summer storm. Backman’s writing is often philosophical: what it means to experience fear, for example. Be warned, the story is very emotional with complicated relationships, especially within families; expect to experience extreme sadness (and tears) when confronting loyalty, friendship and loss.
The Winners – Fredrik Backman
What David Read 
I absolutely loved all three books in the trilogy. The complications that exist in communities and families are so well described, often, as David says, with almost heartbreaking detail. The alienation of children and adults who exist unnoticed on the margins of a community should give us all pause. The love that can rescue people who are almost lost should give us hope. When I started reading the first book, I thought I was reading about towns in Canada.
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