Elsa is a precocious almost-eight-year-old girl under the influence of her grandmother's fanciful stories, her own Harry Potter books and the Spider-Man comics she considers great literature. She believes she's living a fairy tale. When Granny dies she leaves Elsa a challenge — to find and deliver a series of letters to various people living in the same apartment building. Each letter is an apology for something Granny herself couldn't bring herself to apologize for while she was alive.
Granny was a difficult woman, to say the least. A surgeon, she had devoted her life to going to disaster areas around the world and helping wounded people, while all but ignoring her own daughter, Elsa's mother. She had a good heart, yet was always argumentative and insulting. Elsa was the only person who could get close to her and the person who loved her best.
Elsa's quest takes her into the lives of her neighbors, all of whom had some unexpected connection with Granny and many of whom were the models for characters in her fairy tales. And some of these people have also been given a challenge by Granny — to protect Elsa.
The little girl's life is as much a mess as that of any of the adults. Her parents have divorced and remarried. Her mother is pregnant, and Elsa fears her mother's love will be devoted only to her little brother or sister. Because she is so different from everyone else, she is bullied in school and always on the run, usually returning home with bruises.
Fairy tales have happy endings, and Backman doesn't disappoint. Read this with dry eyes. I dare you.
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