The winners, p.66
The Winners,
p.66
The warmest of thanks to Linda Hedenljung, who took the time to answer questions and whose work has contributed an immense amount to these books. Joakim Zander and Johan Zillén, who read and felt and helped me to think a bit harder. Johan Szymanski, who gave me so much time and explained so much that I didn’t understand about fire and forest and life. Anders Dalenius, the best lunch companion anyone could wish for, and the best teacher about dogs, rifles, and food. Ivar Arpi, who explained what drives a lot of people in a way that I would otherwise not have understood. Eric Thunfors, who designed the Beartown badge so perfectly. Riad, Junes, and Erik, we’ve been friends for twenty-five years but this was one when I appreciated your loyalty more than ever. Mum and Dad, who drove me to so many libraries and training sessions when I was a child, and who now encourage their grandchildren’s dreams every day. My sister and P and the children, who always cheer me on. Parham and M and K, who always laugh with us. My mother-in-law and father-in-law, the best maternal grandparents in the world.
Lastly, a big thank-you to the following for inspiration, help, and sometimes just company in the past year: Sofia Lundberg. Christoffer Carlsson. The Tedestedt family. Kajsa Kalméus. Max Bergander. Fredrik Wikingsson. Miguel Guerrero. Anders Jansson. Klas Ekman. Stina Jackson. Marjan Svab. Pascal Engman. Attila Terek. Jay Smith. Nabila Abdul Fattah. Isobel Hadley-Kamptz. Daniel and Freja L. Johan Brennmo. Björn and Lennart Nilsson. And everyone I’ve missed out but really haven’t forgotten. Thank you!
* * *
Finally: To you who have read the whole of this saga, I’d just like to say that I hope it gave you something, because I gave it absolutely everything I had. Thank you for coming along for the ride.
The Winners
Fredrik Backman
This reading group guide for The Winners includes an introduction, discussion questions, ideas for enhancing your book club, and a Q&A with author Fredrik Backman. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.
Introduction
The long-awaited conclusion to the beloved Beartown Series, which follows the small hockey town’s residents as they grapple with change, pain, hope, and redemption.
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. They can see how much Beartown has changed. There is a 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.
Topics & Questions for Discussion
The Winners opens with a storm that rages across Beartown and Hed. How do different people (Ana, Hannah, Johnny, Kira, Peter, Tails, etc.) react in this extraordinary situation, what does it reveal about their characters? What are some of the unexpected things that happen as a result?
For the first time in years, we are told, the Beartown hockey team is better and more well-funded than the Hed team. How has their newfound superiority changed their attitudes toward their neighbors? How have the people from Hed reacted to being second best? What examples in your own life can you think of with a role reversal such as this and what were the effects?
Fredrik Backman chose to write about two towns obsessed with hockey and the drama that comes from their passionate feelings about the game. Are there other kinds of activities besides sports that can inspire such strong feeling of connection and personal identification in a community? If you aren’t a hockey fan, did the book still speak to you?
Ramona, the prickly owner of the Bearskin pub, says early in the book, “Here in the forest people are more dependent on each other than in big cities. People here are stuck together” (pg. 3). Is this true for Maya who comes back to Beartown after going to college in the big city? For Benji who leaves and comes back? Discuss among the group your own experiences or ideas about living in a small town verses a big city, do you find what Ramona says holds true?
Both Beartown and Hed want to win, but more than that we are told they want to watch the other town lose. How does this attitude shape the events of the novel?
There are a few different depictions of father/daughter relationships in the book. Are there certain common themes that connect them? How is each one unique? What does Fredrik Backman have to say about the emotional landscape of parenting?
Ruth and Maya grew up in Beartown around the same time, and they left home within six months of each other. They each endured a horrific sexual assault, but then their stories took very different paths. What do you think it was that allowed Maya to survive her experience while Ruth did not?
Over the three books in the Beartown trilogy, Amat has gone from an underdog to a champion, but in The Winners, he is faced with his biggest challenges yet. Why does Amat struggle despite all his natural talent? How does the way we handle success sometimes put us on the road to failure?
Backman writes of Teemu, one of the Beartown hockey hooligans, “People like him need a future, otherwise they sink” (pg. 129). How are the prospects of each town and the economic situation tied to the violent events that unfold in the novel? How does having a plan for the future help troubled youths like Teemu from sinking?
What is Ramona’s role with the youth of Beartown? How does she act as an unconventional parental figure in their lives? Does she remind you of any people in your own life who helped raise you who weren’t your parents?
Backman writes “’Marriage.’ There ought to be a different word for it once you’ve been married for enough years. When you’ve long since passed the point where it stopped feeling like a choice.” (pg. 317) What do you think Fredrik Backman means? Do you agree with this statement?
Lev is one of the most surprising characters in the book. In what ways did your perceptions of him change over the course of the novel? In what ways does Lev fit in perfectly with the rest of Beartown?
Kira’s psychologist asks her to choose if she’d rather be important or loved, and Kira refuses to answer. What do you think the real answer for Kira would be? How would you answer the question for the other characters? Yourself?
Backman uses the word “bang” as a motif throughout the novel. What different sounds does this word represent? How do you see the author using it for different purposes in different parts of the book?
The young girl Alicia is a hockey prodigy; in what ways does she represent change in Beartown? In what ways does she represent the same old Beartown?
The Winners asks us to consider whether everyone is deserving of forgiveness, and if someone who commits a terrible crime can be punished enough to wipe their slate clean. What do you think about these challenging questions? Has there been a time in your life when you’ve struggled with forgiving someone else? With forgiving yourself?
There are so many powerful and emotional moments in the book, what part of the book moved you the most?
Enhance Your Book Club
In the spirit of Maya’s songwriting, pick a character from the novel and write a song or poem about them to share with your book club.
Watch the hockey documentary “Of Miracles and Men” about the greatest upset in hockey history. Do you understand the rivalry between Hed and Beartown and their obsession with hockey better after watching? How do the themes in The Winners speak to the themes of the film?
Follow author Fredrik Backman on Facebook and Twitter @Backmanland or visit https://www.fredrikbackmanbooks.com/ for news about upcoming books, events, and more.
More from this Series
Us Against You
Beartown
The Beartown Trilogy…
More from the Author
Anxious People
Things My Son Needs to…
About the Author
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, and Anxious People, 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 Twitter @BackmanLand and on Instagram @Backmansk.
SimonandSchuster.com
www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Fredrik-Backman
@AtriaBooks @AtriaBooks @AtriaBooks
Also by Fredrik Backman
Fiction
A Man Called Ove
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry
Britt-Marie Was Here
And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer
Beartown
The Deal of a Lifetime
Us Against You
Anxious People
Nonfiction
Things My Son Needs to Know About the World
We hope you enjoyed reading this Simon & Schuster ebook.
Get a FREE ebook when you join our mailing list. Plus, get updates on new releases, deals, recommended reads, and more from Simon & Schuster. Click below to sign up and see terms and conditions.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP
Already a subscriber? Provide your email again so we can register this ebook and send you more of what you like to read. You will continue to receive exclusive offers in your inbox.
An Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2021 by Fredrik Backman
English language translation copyright © 2022 by Neil Smith
Originally published in Sweden in 2021 by Forum as Vinnarna
Published by agreement with Salomonsson Agency
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Atria Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
First Atria Books hardcover edition October 2022
and colophon are trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or business@simonandschuster.com.
The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.
Interior design by Erika R. Genova
Jacket design by James Iacobelli
Jacket photographs by Adobe Stock, Shutterstock, and Deepol by Plainpicture/Adam Woodworth
Author photograph & Linnéa Jonasson Bernholm/Appendix Fotografi
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.
ISBN 978-1-9821-1279-0
ISBN 978-1-9821-1281-3 (ebook)
Fredrik Backman, The Winners
