I wasn't sure I would love a novel centred on hockey - but as with Friday Night Lights this is actually a story about people - about strength and tribal loyalty and what we unwittingly do when trying to show our boys how to be men. I utterly believed in the residents of Beartown, and felt ripped apart by the events in the book

As popular Swedish exports go, Backman is up there with ABBA and Stieg Larsson.

Surrounded by impenetrable forests, it recreates the stifling atmosphere of a dying community. This is a mature, compassionate novel.

Friday Night Lights for Swedes

A story about families, about friendship and loyalty, inequality, female vulnerability, male back-slapping, and parenthood ... No person's story is too little to be told, Backman includes them all. A novel with a big heart

A kind of problem play that moves extremely skilfully near the melodramatic without derailing. Its originality is substantial and the book credibly conveys the dual faces of everyday life. An impressive novel, like no other

Backman is a masterful writer, his characters familiar yet distinct, flawed yet heroic. . . There are scenes that bring tears, scenes of gut-wrenching despair, and moments of sly humor. . .Like Friday Night Lights, this is about more than youth sports; it's part coming-of-age novel, part study of moral failure, and finally a chronicle of groupthink in which an unlikely hero steps forward to save more than one person from self-destruction. A thoroughly empathetic examination of the fragile human spirit, Backman's latest will resonate a long time.

Praise for A Man Called Ove

It's warm, funny, and ultimately almost unbearably moving

Delightful ... the perfect holiday read

A warm and tender story about love, loss and second chances, peppered with memorable characters, wonderful set pieces and some beautifully black humour. Ove is a joy from start to finish

An uplifting, life-affirming and often comic tale of how kindness, love and happiness can be found in the most unlikely places

Backman can tickle the funny bone and tug on the heart strings when he needs to, and is a clever enough storyteller to not overindulge in either

Trust us when we say that you won't ever have encountered a character quite like Alvie Knightly - the often-drunk, sex-mad, always-sassy heroine . . . A brilliantly bonkers read

If you loved [Paula Hawkins'] Into the Water, try Mad

Pure, unadulterated entertainment. There is nothing Chloé Esposito's Alvie won't do. Strap in for a fun, fast and fresh read

Chloe Esposito introduces a compelling and uncensored antiheroine

Using Sicily as a backdrop with its gorgeous architecture, villas and sexy men, Esposito pens an unforgettable summer debut headed by a no-holds-barred protagonist

Mad is deliciously over-the-top, with a protagonist you'll never forget and an ending that promises more chaos to come

Chloe [has] a fantastic natural vibrancy and humour in her work

What readers are saying about Mad

100% MAD about this book

A page-turner, compelling and delightfully crazy. I can't wait for books two and three

Chloé Esposito has broken the mould. The unconventional heroine and plot breaks so many conventions leading to an enjoyable, fast-paced read, which manages to be well-written and funny. It is perfect for the beach or a long journey

Absolutely loved this book, a real page turner and I didn't want to come to the end

Whoa! Yeah I started my review like that . . . but that's what this book is whoooaaa! it truly is M.A.D. . . . Mental Addictive

Insane for all the right reasons - once you meet Alvie Knightly you won't want to turn your back on her, no way!

This novel cracks along with frenetic, addictive style, beautifully descriptive in hot and heavy fashion . . . highly recommended

Mad is certainly mad! I was hooked on our hero, Alvie

Readers of weary of domestic noir should pick up Our Kind of Cruelty, a splendidly written novel that gives the genre a shot in the arm … pacily written and hugely involving... I was gripped until the last pages.

A nail-biting read that twists perceptions and plays havoc with your nerves

An addictive psychological thriller

A taut, nasty thriller. I loved it!

Cleverly shows the many facets of a complex human character, evoking sympathy, fear and anger all whilst shining a bright unforgiving light on how society views female sexuality.