My Friends - Hardcover

by Fredrik Backman (Author)

My Friends by Fredrik Backman is a funny, tender and deeply moving novel about friendship, art and the people who give us a reason to keep going.

Most people barely notice the three small figures sitting at the end of a pier in one of the world’s most famous paintings. Louisa, an eighteen-year-old aspiring artist, sees something more. She becomes determined to uncover the story behind the mysterious friends portrayed in the corner of the artwork.

Twenty-five years earlier, four teenagers from difficult homes spent an unforgettable summer together in a seaside town. On an abandoned pier, they shared jokes, secrets, dreams and small acts of rebellion. Their friendship eventually inspired an extraordinary painting.

When that painting unexpectedly comes into Louisa’s care, she begins a cross-country journey to learn how it was created and decide what should happen to it. What she discovers is a powerful story about creativity, loss, loyalty and the different forms a happy ending can take.

Book Highlights

• Written by bestselling author Fredrik Backman
• A number-one New York Times bestseller
• Winner of the 2025 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Fiction
• More than one million copies sold across all formats
• A moving story about four teenage friends
• Connects two timelines through a famous painting
• Explores friendship, creativity, grief and second chances
• Balances emotional storytelling with Backman’s signature humour
• A thoughtful choice for book clubs
• Hardcover edition with 448 pages
• Published by Atria Books
• Publication date: May 6, 2025
• ISBN: 9781982112820

Author Biography

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.