My Friends

#1 New York Times bestselling author Fredrik Backman, who captures the messy essence of being human (The Washington Post), returns with an unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a strangers life twenty-five years later. Most people dont even notice themthree tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think its just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an artist herself, knows otherwise and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures. Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their difficult home lives by spending their days laughing and telling stories out on a pier. Theres Joar, who never backs down from a fight; quiet and bookish Ted who is mourning his father; Ali, the daughter of a man who never stays in one place for long; and finally, theres the artist, a boy who hoards sleeping pills and shuns attention, but who possesses an extraordinary gift that might be his ticket to a better life. These four lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream. Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be put into eighteen-year-old Louisas care. As she struggles to decide what to do with this bequest, she embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn the story of how the painting came to be. The closer she gets to the paintings birthplace, the more she feels compelled to unleash her own artistic spirit, but happy endings dont always take the form we expect in this fresh testament to the transformative power of friendship and art.