Britt-Marie was here

"Britt-Marie Was Here" by Fredrik Backman is an emotional story about finding oneself when everything seems lost. A 63-year-old woman decides to radically change her life and ends up in a deserted town. But will she find happiness in this land of football fans, hooligans, and freaks?

Britt-Marie is a very meticulous 63-year-old woman who has spent her entire life caring for others as a daughter, wife, and stepmother. Now, in her old age, she has finally begun to realize how lonely and isolated she has been all this time. It seems no one truly knows Britt-Marie; no one even tries to understand her. Her greatest fear is that one day she will die alone, and no one will even notice. After events that completely overturned her life, she decides to take her first job in forty years in another city and start over. This proves to be a challenging task, especially in Borg – a small settlement that, after the consequences of the economic crisis, survives on the enthusiasm of a handful of stubborn locals. Britt-Marie is tasked with being the caretaker of a community center that will soon be demolished and the coach of a hardworking but untalented children's football team. Extreme challenges will force the woman to confront her fears and psychological traumas and, perhaps, understand who she truly is. Britt-Marie, having played secondary roles in the lives of others for years, must now become the main person in her own destiny.