<b>An instant #1 </b><i><b>New York Times</b></i><b> bestseller, the new novel from the author of </b><i><b>A Man Called Ove </b></i><b>is a "quirky, big-hearted </b><b>novel...</b><b>.Wry, wise and often laugh-out-loud funny, it's a wholly original story that delivers pure pleasure" (</b><i><b>People</b></i><b>).</b><BR>Looking at real estate isn't usually a life-or-death situation, but an apartment open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage. The captives include a recently retired couple who relentlessly hunt down fixer-uppers to avoid the painful truth that they can't fix their own marriage. There's a wealthy bank director who has been too busy to care about anyone else and a young couple who are about to have their first child but can't seem to agree on anything. Add to the mix an eighty-seven-year-old woman who has lived long enough not to be afraid of someone waving a gun in her face, a flustered but still-ready-to-make-a-deal real estate agent, and a mystery man who has locked himself in the apartment's only bathroom, and you've got the worst group of hostages in the world.<BR> <BR>Each of them carries a lifetime of grievances, hurts, secrets, and passions that are ready to boil over. None of them is entirely who they appear to be. And all of them&#8212;the bank robber included&#8212;desperately crave some sort of rescue. As the authorities and the media surround the premises, these reluctant allies will reveal surprising truths about themselves and set in motion a chain of events so unexpected that even they can hardly explain what happens next.<BR> <BR>Proving once again that Backman is "a master of writing delightful, insightful, soulful, character-driven narratives" (<i>USA </i><i>TODAY</i>), <i>Anxious People</i> "captures the messy essence of being human....It's clever and affecting, as likely to make you laugh out loud as it is to make you cry" (<i>The</i> <i>Washington Post</i>). This "endlessly entertaining mood-booster" (<i>Real Simple</i>) is proof that the enduring power of friendship, forgiveness, and hope can save us&#8212;even in the most anxious of times.

Unabridged.