In The Winners by Fredrik Backman, It seems like the people of Beartown, Sweden, have finally 
just started moving on after a series of events two years ago led to violence, death, and many changes. One of which was a tentative truce with neighboring town Hed, their longtime rivals on and off the ice. Because for the locals–or forest folk, as they call themselves–hockey is absolutely everything. It’s as much a part of their lives as is the changing of the seasons. So when a severe storm moves in, which will damage homes and even one of the ice rinks, residents of both towns hunker down and pray their loved ones will remain safe.
“There was a storm yesterday, but today life goes on. And life starts with hockey!”
While the storm is ravaging Beartown and Hed, most people are unaware that there are a certain few who must brave the elements to do their job, be it the firemen, a midwife, or even the caretakers of the ice rinks, risking life and limb to keep their towns running and secure. Once the wind and rain finally subsides, a new series of tragic events takes place. Secrets are uncovered, lies are told and exposed, lives are forever tangled up in ways harmful for some and a blessing for others. But one thing is true: no one who lives in Beartown or Hed will remain untouched by what takes place next.
‘Two years have passed since the last outbreak of violence between the towns that led to someone’s death, but soon we won’t be able to say that.’
A well-written novel of two towns pitted against each other and with years of bad history between them, The Winners was a powerful, emotional ending to Fredrik Backman’s Beartown series.
‘It is often said that history is written by the winners, but there are no winners here.’
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The Winners might be a lengthy book at just under seven hundred pages, but it covered a lot of ground. The timeline focused mostly on how the residents of neighboring Beartown and Hed were coping with everything about two-and-a-half years after where Us Against You left off. So I think for the best reading experience, you would want to read these books in order so as to get the full effect of what took place.
This was told through multiple POVs like previous novels and had a narrator of sorts who foreshadowed events to come. Backman, insightful as always, was tricky in how he worded things as well as how he positioned certain statements, leading readers to believe something tragic would befall a beloved character only to then move on to someone else. It had me flipping the pages as fast as I could to find out how Hed and Beartown would ever find another truce once tempers again flared–and who would survive it all intact.
I won’t get into specific individual characters as there was such a huge cast. But a large chunk of the story was about the Andersson family, Benji, and a family of six in Hed. It was a tangled web of how one small decision or circumstance led to another, then another…and before long, there were so many people from both towns caught up in it that you just knew it wouldn’t end well for all of them. And, sadly, it didn’t. So be prepared to sniffle your way through the last quarter of the book. But Backman thankfully included bits and pieces of what many of the residents’ lives would be like in the future and showed that there was indeed happiness ahead after all they went through.
QOTD: Do you prefer books with multiple POVs or with only one or two viewpoints?
Book Info:
Publication: Published September 27, 2022 | Atria Books | Beartown #3
Two years have passed since the events that no one wants to think about. Everyone has tried to move on, but there’s something about this place that prevents it. The residents continue to grapple with life’s big questions: What is a family? What is a community? And what, if anything, are we willing to sacrifice in order to protect them?
As the locals of Beartown struggle to overcome the past, great change is on the horizon. Someone is coming home after a long time away. Someone will be laid to rest. Someone will fall in love, someone will try to fix their marriage, and someone will do anything to save their children. Someone will submit to hate, someone will fight, and someone will grab a gun and walk towards the ice rink.
So what are the residents of Beartown willing to sacrifice for their home?
Everything.
Patricia B.
I like books that use the viewpoints of all the major characters. Thing happen when the one or two main characters are not around and it helps if you see the events through someone’s eyes. Often that is a narrator which is an extra character of sorts.