Fredrik Backman soars on the ice in his newest novel, Beartown

Fredrik Backman had me with A Man Called Ove.  His subsequent novels (My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry and Britte-Marie Was Here) were equally good but with his latest outing, he has raised his game considerably.  Characters have always been a strength, but in Beartown, the cast is larger and richer and the story arc more complex.  The book is set in a small, wintry town in the forests of Sweden where hockey is king.  From the time children can stand, they are buckled into skates and handed a stick.  The titular Beartown has teams at every level, always hoping to get itself on the map and, more importantly, bring a hockey academy and all the business surrounding it to bolster their faltering economy. 

Backman toggles between the points of view of a number of the teenage boys who play on the junior team, which is one step away from winning a regional championship, their classmates, their parents and various other townspeople.  Initially, the book seems to be about the benefits and dangers of such extreme investment in hockey.  Suburban America may be geographically far distant from Beartown, but the obsessive behavior of a community too invested in youth sports for their own good seems familiar.  But, it turns out that the novel is about much more:  what it means to be a good parent, to be a good friend, whether you are able to accept the consequences of your choices.  Importantly, it asks, is there a point at which loyalty stops?  The story also takes on topical issues such as classism, gender roles and sexual aggression.

The book begins: “Late one evening toward the end of March, a teenager picked up a double-barreled shotgun, walked into the forest, put the gun to someone else’s forehead, and pulled the trigger.  This is the story of how we got there” (1).  Thus, Backman establishes the uneasy, ever-present sense of violence that exists in plain sight in the hockey rink and in the shadows of dark streets, isolated locker rooms, and at out-of-control parties.   

The action builds in complex layers as the junior team of boys wins their semi-final match and then prepares for the championship.  The teenagers walk the halls of the school and the streets as the idols that they have become in the town’s eyes.  As we all know, such power corrupts, and it’s not long before certain individuals believe themselves above rules, laws and civil behavior.  They come to first period late and call the English teacher “Sweet cheeks” to her face, knowing – rightly – that as the heroes and the town’s future, they will not be disciplined.  Backman does a good job of creating not only the pack mentality of the team and the adults who run it, but also the individual boys.  Kevin is the star scorer, without whom they are unlikely to win and who stands the best chance of turning professional.  He’s also a lonely boy whose parents are always too busy, jet-setting off on business trips, to watch him play, instead buying him the best of everything and helping to finance the hockey club.  Benji is the scruffy fighter on the team and Kevin’s best friend.  Incredibly naturally talented, he is also perpetually sad, growing up without a dad and harboring a secret he can’t share.  Amat is an immigrant who lives in the Hollow (as opposed to the upscale Heights) and whose mother suffers daily insults and back aches as the custodian at the rink.  Younger than the others, he is shunned by the team for his size and his poverty and is only finally accepted when they see his value both as a player and as a secret keeper. 

The turning point in the novel occurs at a celebration in which the unchaperoned team, their friends and the girls who fawn over them drink shots and things get out of control.  The aftermath challenges the integrity of the teenagers and the townspeople as they individually and collectively grapple with their willingness to accept the truth. This may sound like a dark novel – and there are some fairly serious subjects – but because Backman has created characters who are complex, there is also joy and humor and – at the risk of a spoiler – individual goodness, bravery and perseverance leave the reader satisfied.