My Grandmother Sends her Regards and Apologises – The Importance of Fantasy in Our Lives

As a person who likes to read a lot of fantasy, sci-fi and comic books I get to hear a lot of remarks about my reading habits. The most common ones are isn’t it a waste of time and what good does it do? Well, I have a feeling that those people should read this book.

In this book seven-year-old Elsa, is an outsider. An abnormal child who has a lot of intelligence, but not a lot of social skills.

Her best friend and her only friend is her grandmother. Her grandmother teaches her that being abnormal and unique is not bad. In Elsa’s mind she’s like a X-Men, special and yet unpopular. Her X-Men comparison helps her get by in life and gives her courage. Also, her grandmother is one of the most eccentric characters I have ever seen, yet not unbelievable.

Her grandmother soon dies from cancer and sends her granddaughter on a journey to find out who she really was before she became a grandmother. Through this almost magical journey, Elsa finds out that all of the magical fairytales her grandmother told her have some connection to her actual life. A story within a story that refers to the story itself, but also shows how stories helps children and adults process reality in an easier and more entertaining fashion.

So, if you like X-Men, Harry Potter, Star-Wars and other children’s stories references in your book, this is the book for you. However, this is not a children’s book and is definitely not meant for children. The themes of death, loss, domestic abuse, war and all the grownup problems maybe be very difficult for children. Also, this book is full of cursing words.

However, this book fails to be really deep and some of the characters are very flat so I would sum it up as really good book, which is a light fun read which occasionally might bring some tears to your eyes.

" My Grandmother Sends her Regards and Apologises" by Fredrik Backman, published in 2013.

[Image source](By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57726925)