My Friends: A Novel

#1 New York Times bestseller, more than 1 million copies sold!

Winner of the 2025 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Fiction * A Fallon Book Club Pick * USA TODAY Best Books of the Year * NPR Best Books of the Year * Marie Claire 25 Best Novels of the Year * BookPage Best Fiction of the Year * Real Simple Best Books of the Year * Libby Audiobook of the Year

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Anxious People returns with an unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a complete stranger’s life twenty-five years later.

Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an aspiring artist herself, knows otherwise, and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures.

Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant seaside town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their bruising home lives by spending long summer days on an abandoned pier, telling silly jokes, sharing secrets, and committing small acts of rebellion. These lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream, a reason to love.

Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be placed into eighteen-year-old Louisa’s care. She embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn how the painting came to be and to decide what to do with it. The closer she gets to the painting’s birthplace, the more nervous she becomes about what she’ll find. Louisa is proof that happy endings don’t always take the form we expect in this stunning testament to the transformative, timeless power of friendship and art.

Fredrik Backman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, Britt-Marie Was Here, Beartown, Us Against You, Anxious People, The Winners, and My Friends, as well as two novellas and one work of nonfiction. His books are published in more than forty countries. He lives in Stockholm, Sweden, with his wife and two children. Connect with him on Facebook and X @BackmanLand and on Instagram @Backmansk.

“A sweeping saga about young people, art and the way creativity connects friends and strangers across generations. . . . If you’ve read A Man Called Ove, you know Backman can be depended on to show how small the world is, and how fragile. He does it again here, this time with Stand by Me vibes.” —The New York Times

“This is Fredrik Backman at the height of his empathy and resonance. . . I frequently paused to marvel at the way Backman captured the rebellion of joy, the ferocity of devotion, and the cruelty of indifference. Every Backman book should come with the warning that your heart will be split in two, but also, more importantly, with the assurance that it will be repaired with restored faith in the small miracles of being human.” —NPR, Favorite Fiction Reads of 2025

“[A] moving ode to friendship and creativity, in Backman’s signature striking style.” —People

“Backman captures the guffaws of adolescent humor and the challenges for talented souls who fall outside society's norms, while he underscores not only the powerful sublimity of art but also how art can change lives. Backman's signature quirky characters never fail to amuse, while also illuminating profound truths.” —The Denver Post

“Masterfully crafted. . . . A devastatingly beautiful love letter to teen friendship and the way they shape who you are and who you want to be, My Friends is Backman's best story yet.”
—The Nerd Daily

“A heart-warming, heart-breaking gem that shines with wisdom, compassion, and humor.”
—BookTrib

“Irrepressible humor, boundless grief, and eternal loyalty coalesce in Backman’s tribute to youthful imagination and unfettered faith in art’s power to heal and nurture.” —Booklist (starred review)

“Humorous, poignant, and always life-affirming.” —Kirkus (starred review)

“In My Friends, Backman again pays tribute to the forces that make an ordinary life extraordinary. By focusing his tremendous empathy on the power of art and friendship, he has created a novel that celebrates the beauty of being alive.” —BookPage (starred review)

“Backman delivers a wistful story about the power of friendships. . . . The author is at the top of his game.” —Publishers Weekly

Praise for Fredrik Backman

“Backman captures the messy essence of being human. . . clever and affecting, as likely to make you laugh out loud as it is to make you cry.” —Washington Post

“The perfect balance of heartwarming and heart-wrenching. . . Fredrik Backman has a way of simply yet elegantly describing relationships. We can all be idiots, but we’re still all human beings worthy of connection and love.” –NPR

“Everything Backman’s pen touches oozes with insight and heart.” —Amazon Book Review

“Backman is a masterful writer, his characters familiar yet distinct, flawed yet heroic.”—Kirkus Reviews

“As popular Swedish exports go, Backman is up there with Abba and Stieg Larssson.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Backman is the Dickens of our age, and though you'll cry, your heart is safe in his han