Here at Oakham Nub News, we are working closely with Laura Ray from Rutland Book Club to bring you monthly instalments of our book club feature.

Laura has been running Rutland Book Club since the pandemic, and arranges monthly meet ups for other keen readers to discuss their chosen book of the month - and you are invited to join!

The book club title for this month is A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman.

About the book:

At first sight, Ove is almost certainly the grumpiest man you will ever meet. He thinks himself surrounded by idiots – neighbours who can't reverse a trailer properly, joggers, shop assistants who talk in code, and the perpetrators of the vicious coup d'etat that ousted him as Chairman of the Residents' Association. He will persist in making his daily inspection rounds of the local streets.

But isn't it rare, these days, to find such old-fashioned clarity of belief and deed? Such unswerving conviction about what the world should be, and a lifelong dedication to making it just so?

In the end, you will see, there is something about Ove that is quite irresistible... 

Laura's Review: 

At first you think Ove is just an aging, cranky, overly fastidious man who complains about everything and everyone, but by the end of the book you will wish that you could be more like Ove. Ove is 59, and his wife of 40 years has recently died. He is now being forced to retire, and he has given up on life.

As the story of his past unfolds through flashbacks, you realize how much sadness he has had in his life, and you begin to see glimpses of his kindness. We see the loving relationship Ove had with his father, especially after his mother dies. The way his father imparts right and wrong and rules to live by is especially touching. He is raised to be and does becomes a decent, good man. He's an honest, unassuming man, who falls in love with a beautiful, smart woman, who falls in love with him. Now he is a very sad, lonely man and what he intends to do will break your heart.

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Enter into the story the quirky neighbours, the stray injured cat, the best friend that Ove no longer speaks to, and you can't help but laugh even though there is Ove's sadness. His plans are interrupted every day by one quirky neighbour or another but especially by the family next door. Ove continues to show kindness to the people around him in spite of what appears to be a mean temperament and these people come to love him and you suspect he cares about them, too.

It's predictable and sometimes a bit melodramatic but it will make you laugh, and cry and you'll be glad that you met Ove. 

How to join the book club:

Rutland book Club be discussing this book on Wednesday 22 February 2023 at 7.30pm. They meet at The Wisteria Hotel in Oakham.

Anyone is welcome to join the meetings, as well as the Rutland Book Club Facebook Group, where readers who cannot attend the meeting are still welcome to discuss each monthly title.

The book can be bought online or locally from Walkers Book Shop which is on the High Street in Oakham.

The monthly book will be shared here each month.

In the meantime, see you at The Wisteria on 22 February 2023.