There exists in this world a particular sort of reader—perhaps you are one of them—who finishes Anxious People by Fredrik Backman and immediately wishes for another book just like it. You know the feeling, I expect. That peculiar ache when the last page has been turned, and one is left wondering where else such marvellous, muddled, magnificently imperfect characters might be found.
For those readers who treasure heartwarming stories populated by wonderfully peculiar souls—the sort who say exactly the wrong thing at exactly the right moment, and who remind us that being human is terribly difficult but also rather beautiful—we have gathered the finest recommendations. These books share that special quality Backman captures so well: the understanding that every anxious person is fighting battles we cannot see, and that kindness, even clumsy kindness, is never wasted.
1. The Wendy by Erin Michelle Sky and Steven Brown
If you loved Anxious People for its witty narration and fiercely independent characters who refuse to be what society expects them to be, then The Wendy shall capture your heart entirely.
This is no ordinary Peter Pan retelling, you understand. This is the story of a young woman named Wendy Darling who dreams of commanding her own ship in an age when such ambitions in a young woman were considered quite impossible—which, as any reader knows, only makes pursuing them more satisfying.
What makes this book sing like a well-tuned fiddle is its narrative voice—clever and warm, with observations so witty they made readers laugh aloud in public places. The narrator speaks directly to us, you see, rather like a favourite aunt sharing secrets over tea.
Despite the show of perfection that Wendy strives so hard to maintain as she struggles to make her way in a man’s world, readers who loved Backman’s talent for making us care deeply about imperfect people will find themselves utterly charmed. The complete Tales of the Wendy trilogy is now available, so you needn’t wait between volumes.
2. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Eleanor Oliphant keeps her life arranged in the most particular order, rather like a music box that plays the same tune every day without variation. She says precisely what she thinks, which tends to make everyone around her uncomfortable—though one suspects this bothers Eleanor not at all.
When Eleanor and a colleague save an elderly man who has collapsed on the street, she finds herself drawn into a world of kindness and connection she had carefully avoided. What follows is a story about healing that creeps up on you quite unexpectedly, like winter sunshine through a window.
Backman readers will recognise the beautiful awkwardness immediately. Here is another soul who struggles with the simple business of being human, yet somehow makes us believe that such struggles are precisely what makes us worth knowing.
3. The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
Mr. Linus Baker is a man of rules and regulations, of properly completed forms and carefully followed procedures. He works for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, inspecting orphanages for children who happen to be magical—which, one imagines, presents unique challenges.
When Linus is sent to evaluate a remote island orphanage housing six dangerous children (including a small boy who happens to be the Antichrist), he discovers that families can be found in the most unexpected places. The children are wonderfully strange, their caretaker is mysteriously charming, and Linus finds his tidy world magnificently disrupted.
This is a story about found families and learning to love what one has been taught to fear—themes that would make Backman’s characters feel quite at home.
4. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
Tova Sullivan is seventy years old and working night shifts at an aquarium, which is how she comes to befriend Marcellus—a giant Pacific octopus who possesses strong opinions about humanity and an exceptional talent for observation.
Marcellus, you see, knows things. He knows what happened to Tova’s son, who vanished thirty years ago. And despite being an octopus (or perhaps because of it), he is determined to help her find the truth.
This is the sort of book where friendship arrives from the most unlikely direction, rather like a package you never ordered but desperately needed. The wit, the warmth, the delightfully unexpected characters—Backman readers will feel they have found kindred spirits.
5. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Between life and death, Nora Seed discovers a library that exists at midnight—an infinite collection of books, each containing a life she might have lived had she made different choices.
With each book she opens, Nora experiences another possibility: the life where she married differently, the life where she became an Olympic swimmer, the life where she never gave up her dreams. What she discovers is something every anxious person needs to hear.
This philosophical yet deeply comforting tale asks the very questions Backman’s characters wrestle with: What makes a life worth living? And is it ever too late to begin again?
6. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
Harold Fry is sixty-five years old, recently retired, and has just set off to post a letter. But somewhere between his front door and the postbox, Harold makes a decision that changes everything: he will walk six hundred miles across England to visit a dying friend.
In his yacht shoes and wholly unprepared, Harold begins his pilgrimage. Along the way, he meets the sorts of characters who populate Backman’s novels—ordinary people with extraordinary hearts, each carrying secrets and sorrows and unexpected wisdom.
This is a quiet book about loud things: regret, hope, love, and the peculiar way that putting one foot in front of another can sometimes save your life.
7. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
A.J. Fikry is a grumpy, grieving bookshop owner on a small island, drinking too much and caring too little about nearly everything. His most valuable possession has been stolen, his sales are dismal, and he has decided the world is quite finished with him.
Then a mysterious package appears in his bookshop, and A.J. finds his life thoroughly disrupted in the most marvellous way.
This is a love letter to books and the people who read them—and a reminder that transformation can arrive when we least expect it, usually at the most inconvenient moment.
8. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Count Alexander Rostov has been sentenced to house arrest in Moscow’s most luxurious hotel for the rest of his life. For thirty years, the Metropol will be his entire world—its restaurants, its corridors, its cast of eccentric residents and staff.
Rather than despair, the Count discovers that a rich life can be lived within remarkably small confines. He befriends a precocious child, falls in love with a famous actress, and creates a family from the most unlikely collection of souls.
Backman readers will recognise the warmth beneath the wit, and the profound truth that connection matters more than circumstance.
9. The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley
A lonely artist writes the truth about his life in a green notebook and leaves it in a café. The café owner adds her own confession and passes it along. Before long, six strangers have shared their deepest truths—and found themselves connected in ways none of them expected.
This charming story about the courage required to be honest, and the surprising results when we are, would feel entirely at home alongside Backman’s hopeful investigations of human nature.
10. Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson
Lillian is invited by an old friend to care for two ten-year-old twins with a rather unusual condition: when they become upset, they burst into flames.
Now, this might seem quite different from Backman’s realistic fiction, but beneath the supernatural premise beats the same generous heart. Here are children who have been neglected, a woman who is lost, and a story about how loving difficult people is the most important work we can do.
The quirky premise disguises something profound—much like Backman’s hostage-taking apartment viewers revealed a meditation on what it means to be human.
Each of these books shares what makes Anxious People so beloved: the understanding that we are all, in our various ways, struggling to be good and usually failing and trying again anyway. They remind us that the quietest lives often contain the loudest hearts, that grumpy exteriors frequently hide tender souls, and that stories about imperfect people learning to connect are always worth the adventure.
