Beartown (book series)

***Beartown*** (original title in Swedish: ***Björnstad***) is a book trilogy written by Fredrik Backman. It is translated by Neil Smith, published by Piratförlaget in Sweden, and Simon & Schuster in the United States. Placed in a small, remote hockey town, it introduces narratives of many of its inhabitants. In the aftermath of the rape of Maya Andersson by hockey team's star player, Kevin Erdahl, it propels the town into outrage, guilt, and fear.

The series addresses subjects of sexual violence, trauma, victim blaming, toxic masculinity, road to healing and reconciliation, and complexity in human nature. In regards to writing about such serious topics, Backman said, "I spent a lot of time researching for that book. I talked to over 100 people who had been in similar situations, and some of them had truly horrific stories. It was a hard book to write, as it should have been."

## Origins

Initially it began as a script for a television series, where he wrote four episodes. When he wanted to reach out to production companies, the process became too cumbersome, and Backman was suggested by his agent to create a novel instead. He was inspired by sports, and the darker aspects in human nature.

In an interview with Goodreads, he explained, "At the same time I'm trying to tell a story about the darker parts of sports and the darker parts of male groups. If you're valuable to the group, then you have value as an individual. If your value to the group diminishes, then your value as an individual diminishes as well. We're taught from a very young age that if you're good at something, your value as a human being will increase. That thinking is everywhere. So from that came this idea to write this story and try to tell all the best parts of sports that I know, all the things that make me love it, and also tell the difficult questions, the things that are really hard to get a grasp on and try to show that it's complex."

## Setting

Situated in a fictional isolated town somewhere in Sweden, it suffers economically, and heavily depends on the boys' hockey team, who can bring their town to glory. With rigid class and gender structures, divided into the Heights and the Hollow, and being male-dominated, most do not go against the grain.

## Novels

* *Beartown* (2017)
* *Us Against You* (2018)
* *The Winners* (2022)

## Themes

Major themes include gender roles and politics. The author had also said it was about loyalty, self-worth, heroes, and human weakness. One has commented, "Backman carefully sets up the events leading to the sexual assault so it is a constellation of the racism and classism and sexism of the community, an effective dramatization of the novel's themes," while another has mentioned the themes of "parenthood", "devotion and friendship", and "leadership".

## References

1. ↑ Navmi Krishna (July 10, 2021). "'The most important thing to have is a thinking routine': Fredrik Backman"
2. ↑ Todd Leopold (April 24, 2017). "Interview with Fredrik Backman". Retrieved February 25, 2022.
3. ↑ Eliot Schrefer (April 26, 2017). "In Fredrik Backman's 'Beartown,' hockey rules".
4. ↑ "Book Review: Beartown by Fredrik Backman". November 7, 2017.