My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry

A little about the story

Seven-year-old Elsa finds the ordinary world difficult to navigate. Her unconventional grandmother is her closest ally, offering both outrageous adventures and an elaborate imaginary kingdom where being different is something to celebrate. When her grandmother leaves Elsa a series of letters to deliver, that private world begins to overlap with the lives of their neighbors. The imaginary adventures have given Elsa a way to withstand loneliness, but they may also contain clues to experiences her grandmother never explained directly.

Each errand introduces someone whose history is more complicated than Elsa first imagined. The resulting journey combines family secrets, fairy-tale echoes, and the bewildering business of understanding adults. Funny, unruly, and tender, the novel follows a child learning how stories can hold people together, even when the storyteller is no longer beside her. Seen through Elsa’s questioning perspective, familiar ideas about monsters and heroes become less certain, and people who seem merely strange begin to acquire histories.

Things You May Not Know About My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry

• Two English titles. British readers know the same novel as My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises; the longer American title names the same story.
• Seven and seventy-seven. The age difference between Elsa and her grandmother is exactly seventy years, but their closeness makes them allies against adult expectations.
• A whole invented geography. The Land-of-Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas have their own places and rules, which gradually acquire significance beyond bedtime entertainment.
• A familiar neighbor returns. Britt-Marie appears among the apartment building’s residents before becoming the central character of Backman’s later novel Britt-Marie Was Here.
• An adventure made from apologies. Instead of a conventional treasure map, Elsa follows letters to people her grandmother wronged, making acts of repair the route into other lives.