“Forks.”

From Fredrik Backman’s Britt-Marie Was Here.

Britt-Marie is an elderly woman who’s in need of a job after her recent separation from her cheating husband (Kurt). She spent the last 40 years of her life, taking care of Kurt’s children and creating a pristine home (primarily through the use of bicarbonate of soda). People say she is passive aggressive, but she’s not, Britt-Marie is just very adamant that everyone should do things the right way… just like she does. The financial crisis has made the only available job for Britt-Marie a temporary custodian position at the Borg Recreation Center. When she arrives, Britt-Marie discovers that everything in town in town has been closed up except the pizzeria and recreation center. While completely unimpressed with Borg, Britt-Marie finds herself stuck there when her car dies as she arrives. While stranded, Britt-Marie meets a wheelchair-bound drunk that she calls Somebody who runs Borg’s pizzeria/mechanic/post office/store combo, the local police officer (Sven), a blind woman named Bank, Vega and Omar who lead the small, untalented group of children that make up Borg’s football team, and the troubled young adult Sami. One of the things that Britt-Marie hates is football, but while working at and cleaning up the recreation center, she somehow finds herself the sort-of football coach for the children that play outside in the parking lot. As Britt-Marie tries to work her way through independent life and understanding football, her presence in Borg leaves a mark that nobody will ever forget.

Backman’s captivating writing style and development allows the story to be hilariously funny overall with hard-hitting moments scattered throughout to develop the characters. Title character Britt-Marie is easy to relate with, especially because her outlook on life is so full of impolite flaws. Britt-Marie Was Here pushes the reader to devour the book and the unforgettable, unique story found within the pages.