A breathtaking new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling
author of Anxious People and A Man Called Ove, The Winners returns
to the close-knit, resilient community of Beartown for a story about
first loves, second chances, and last goodbyes.
Over the course of two weeks, everything in Beartown will change.
Maya Andersson and Benji Ovich, two young people who left in search of a
life far from the forest town, come home and joyfully reunite with their
closest childhood friends. There is a new sense of optimism and purpose
in the town, embodied in the impressive new ice rink that has been built
down by the lake.
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 destruction caused by a ferocious late-summer
storm reignites the old rivalry between Beartown and the neighboring
town of Hed, a rivalry which has always been fought through their ice
hockey teams.
Maya's parents, Peter and Kira, are caught up in an investigation of the
hockey club's murky finances, and Amat--once the star of the Beartown
team--has lost his way after an injury and a failed attempt to get
drafted into the NHL. Simmering tensions between the two towns turn into
acts of intimidation and then violence. All the while, a
fourteen-year-old boy grows increasingly alienated from this
hockey-obsessed community and is determined to take revenge on the
people he holds responsible for his beloved sister's death. He has a
pistol and a plan that will leave Beartown with a loss that is almost
more that it can stand.
As it beautifully captures all the complexities of daily life and
explores questions of friendship, loyalty, loss, and identity, this
emotion-packed novel asks us to reconsider what it means to win, what it
means to lose, and what it means to forgive.
