When I call Fredrik Backman from halfway across the world – he in his Stockholm apartment, me in my New York one – he says something I don’t expect. The “Anxious People” author is soft-spoken, even ...

Bestselling Swedish writer Fredrik Backman says he never struggled with his confidence as much as he did writing his new book, My Friends. In fact, he was seriously considering retiring. A year ago, ...

In August, the Book Review Book Club will read and discuss “My Brilliant Friend,” the first book in Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan quartet. By MJ Franklin MJ Franklin is an editor at the Book Review.