HT reviewer Rutvik Bhandari picks his favourite read of 2025

A novel about the absurdity of life that looks at humanity with so much gentleness that readers can’t help but look at themselves, and everyone else too, more softly

I read Anxious People in January 2025, on a day where allergies left me feeling like a lone soldier stuck in a high battlement facing an entire troop. After being unable to focus on the physical book thanks to the constant tears and sneezes, I switched over to the audio book and finished it in a single day. Almost a year later, this is the book I still catch myself thinking about quite often.

“At its core, Anxious People, is about the absurdity of human life. Rather than mocking his characters for their mistakes and mishaps, Backman holds them with tenderness.” (Penguin)

Describing Fredrik Backman’s Anxious People to someone who hasn’t read it would be quite straight-forward: A group of people in an open apartment-viewing in a small town in Sweden get taken hostage when a bank robber fleeing the police enters the apartment. As the law enforcement tries to make sense of the situation, the hostages reveal themselves to be anxious people carrying their own private heartbreaks. In the cramped apartment, unexpected connections form and long-buried truths surface. But if I were to geek over the book with people who have read it, it wouldn’t be about the grandstanding between the robber and the police, or the attempts at rescuing those stuck inside. It would be about how painfully hilarious the book is. Since this was my first Backman and I was unaware of his tender storytelling, and I found myself shedding a lot of tears — from laughter, sadness… and allergies.

Reviewer Rutvik Bhandari (Courtesy the subject)

At its core, Anxious People, is about the absurdity of human life. Rather than mocking his characters for their mistakes and mishaps, Backman holds them with tenderness. He peels back layers and shows the fears, longings, heartbreaks, and love that sit behind these impulsive choices. Somewhere between the pages, you start recognising yourself: all the rushed decisions, anxieties brushed under the rug, and the embarrassing ways we reach for connection without admitting that we need it. Anxious People looks at humanity with so much gentleness that you can’t help but look at yourself — and everyone around you — a little more softly. And isn’t that the point of a good book?

Rutvik Bhandari is an independent writer. He lives in Pune. You can find him talking about books on Instagram and YouTube (@themindlessmess).