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hi courtney
*throws snowball*
I'll admit that i've not read the book which this material comes from so it's hard to comment on the canon characterization however with the quality of your writing I have no doubt that you're nailing it! what I really like about the characterization about how strong and clear her inner narration is, the imagery that you've used is so strong and really packs an emotional punch. you've really highlighted the angsty nature of this piece perfectly. you feel for britt-marie here. it makes me more interested about her and furthering her story! great job!
Abbi xx
Author's Response:Abbi, thank you so much for checking this collection, even fandom blind! I'm glad to hear that the tone of this story is rather angsty because Britt-Marie's story is full of hardship and strife. This collection definitely slow builds, like a snowball might, so while not a lot happens in the first chapter beyond her innermost thoughts, things will sort of take off with each passing drabble. :)
This was also the first time I wrote anything that resembled a "stream of conscious," type narration, so I am also glad to hear that you found it enjoyable to read!
Thanks again for checking this out, I appreciate it so much!
~ Courtney
P.S. leaving this response for the review event -- frequency --
Hi, Courtney. I am here for our review swap.
I have read this story several times, starting back when you first posted it. It is intriguingly different, the sort of story that you have to read over and over to absorb most of it, althought I'm certain that there are aspects of it that I didn't fully absorb even up to now.
Chapter 1. Britt-Marie is definitely not an ordinary character, the surviving daughter of a bereaved mother who is not coping well. Britt-Marie has been brought up with strict and precise rules about proper behavior, but I suspect that it is also a part of her innate personality because her late sister Ingrid (older? younger?) had different standards in fingernail cleanliness. So Britt-Marie is judgmental and not tolerant about mangy dogs and the people who keep them, and about the neighbor boy who is not clean enough by her standards.
Britt-Marie speaks of her mother losing another piece of her heart, after the piece she lost when Ingrid died. We don't know yet what the second loss was about, but it seems to have dealt quite a blow to Britt-Marie's mother. It is good how you parcel out the details of Britt-Marie's backstory bit by bit, so that the picture slowly starts to form, like a piece of photographic paper in a tray of developer in a darkroom (don't know if you were ever familiar with that).
Chapter 2. Now you introduce something positive into Britt-Marie's sad, duty-bound, loveless life -- a boyfriend, older, handsome, suave, smooth-spoken, attentive, just insistent enough to be flattering and a little scary. What Britt-Marie has been hoping for, especially now that her mother is sinking ever deeper into alcoholism. You give us the clue that Britt-Marie is afraid that her mother might start a fire with her smoking and drinking, and that Ingrid's death was by fire. Does Britt-Marie feel guilty for leaving Ingrid home alone with Mama on that fateful day?
Somehow we don't have good vibes about Alf; you have depicted him very well, subtly but ominously. And Britt-Marie is so innocent about all this.
Chapter 3. I am glad to see Kent back in the picture now -- older, better, still a little rumpled but less muddy, and most importantly, genuine. Alf is away in the army now, and it doesn't take binoculars to see what that will lead to. Britt-Marie doesn't suspect any danger to her romance with Alf, which seems to have been going on for some years now, although it is interesting to see her beginning to analyze the personaliities of the four of them (Alf, Kent, Ingrid, Nd herself) objectively, questioning who should be (or who should have been) together. This shows her maturation from the starry-eyed mid-teen to the wiser 20-year-old, though still not wise enough, as we shall see.
Loyalty is one of her major traits, loyalty to her mother who can no longer be a mother, only a burden, loyalty to Alf, even though she begins to sense that Kent is a better match for her. I like your lines that show how she begins to realize this. "It shouldn't feel so untidy," "That feeling [for Kent] shouldn't be here." This feeling of mental disorganization makes her feel afraid, but she also responds to how he says her name, like he sees her and doesn't want to look away.So she decides that she can keep this feeling , under the guise of its just being friends. A good solution,for the moment, to her mental conflict.
Chapter 4. We could have seen it coming. Alf has feet of clay, and he cheats on Britt-Marie. It was always about him and about what he wanted.
There's quite a change of tone in this chapter. It shakes up the tense but steady feeling of the story up to this point, and it's great for two reasons. It bursts like a bombshell and realigns a lot of assumptions about Britt-Marie's life, and it shows us what she is capable of, what she has kept bottled-up inside of her. Lots of impassioned dialogue to counterbalance long stretches of narrative and introspection. We see her able to defend herself by striking back forcefully at this no-good now-ex boyfriend. I loved to see this chapter. It's no longer the long-suffering, duty-bound, clenched-jaw endurer of a crappy life. "She hates him for it. Just as she hates herself and her mother and so many other things about the last several years of her life." She has gotten the short end of the stick for almost her entire lie, and now she hates herself for ever hoping for anything at all.
Britt-Marie is about in her early twenties at this point, and she still has many years, getting more difficult all the time, being her mother's caregiver, with nothing to hope for except the time when her mother will finally pass away. You do not tell us that she is thinking that, but I cannot believe that it doesn't cross her mind as an eventual release.
Chapter 5. Many years later, and Britt-Marie's mother has finally died. I'm surprised that she managed to live that long. Britt-Marie has been essentially homebound during these final years. She has been scared but brave and has stuck to what she saw as her duty (or maybe she didn't have any other options). And finally (happy ending) Kent comes back. I liked this line "She never realized how much she missed him until she saw him there that day." It quickly becomes plain that she is ready to move on from the train wreck that her life has been. She seems to see Kent as her savior, but it will take time, maybe a lot of time, for her to unpack all the effects of what her life has been and to figure out how to build a new life for herself.
Some questions that linger: When did Papa leave? Was it before Ingrid died? Was his departure Mama's first big loss? And what country does this story take place in? I get the feel that it is in a Scandinavian country. And did Britt-Marie have any other occupations (school? a job?) during these years, especially the later ones, other that taking care of her alcoholic mother? She must have some sort of income.
This was a great story. Not, for the most part of it, a true romance, but more of a tribute to the human spirit. Very good job. Thank you for writing! <3
Author's Response:Vicki wow! This is SUCH an incredible review! Your insights and the connections you drew across all the chapters were very insightful! Britt-Marie is one of those "quiet," people. She has a tendency to please the people around her, definitely at her own detriment at times, as you point out. And for the most part, she is fine with that. I believe in the book or in its sequel, spin-off she mentions that she only ever wanted a simple, quiet life. And she's clung to this notion in spite of all the hellfiery things that rage around her. She's probably a Virgo because that kind of obstinate loyalty is of that sign. I think that is also why I relate so deeply to her as a person, ya know?
And the emotional abuse she takes from her mother...well...you sort of just normalize that, don't you? But Britt-Marie aims to break cycles, which we see later on. She refuses to fall into alcoholism like her mother has. But she does in some ways become like her mother.
To answer some of your questions, it's not exactly clear WHEN her father leaves in Britt-Marie's story. Certain details are left vague. But we do know that her father leaving and Ingrid's death happen in close succession. In terms of her career, not much is known there. I believe somewhere it states she was a waitress prior to marrying Kent. She had aspirations to study something in Paris, but put those dreams on hold to marry Kent and maintain their household. Fredrik Backman (the author) is Swedish, so this story is set in Sweden. Very good catch there. :)
Thank you for checking out these drabbles! I appreciate all of your thoughts on this collection!
~ Courtney
P.S. leaving this response for the review event -- frequency --
And then here's another one just because I've missed you. :)
Oh helll no Alf. Has this man been writing to two women while he's been away at war.
It's giving a lot of that classic catch 22 for women about dressing up, doing makeup, etc. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. It makes you cheap and fake, but without it you're undesirable. And Britt Marie has to wonder, did this happen because she wasn't one of those girls? But no. It would have happened anyway, we all know it.
She wonders if he feels ashamed about his socks. She hopes he does. Because he very well knows that if he chose someone like Britt-Marie, he’d never see a sock with holes in it for the rest of his life. Now it’s all she hopes he ever sees.
This is one of those details that makes it all so relatable. These inane thoughts we have in moments like these. Enjoy your holey socks, Alf! If you hadn't stepped out, you wouldn't have holey socks. But you valued sex over good socks. And it just says so much about Britt-Marie and her love language and how she gives by doing.
<3
Author's Response:Awwe Melanie you are so very kind to keep coming back to this story where I just flail about this middle aged woman who totally deserved better but never asked for enough for herself because she didn't know she could. This was such a pivotal moment in the backstory between Alf and Britt-Marie and it was like OMGAWSH WHY ALF, but he's just like "I was young and stupid," and yeah, sometimes we just do stupid things when we're younger and he totally did. Anyway, I appreciate you so much for your lovely comments and for picking up on very distinct things that make Britt-Marie, Britt-Marie...it makes me so happy! :)
<3 Courtney
Nano tag!
Okay, can we talk about just... how insanely clever this entire format is, and the many and various ways you contrive for these boys to enunciate her name and explore the meaning therein? Like here how Kent pronounces her name now, with the pause in between, like "there are things he cannot say but wishes he could." Omg. And then down to how you title your chapters to be the first part of the opening line.
It's such a beautiful meditation, this chapter, on how a person can seem so different just this side of a few years. How annoying, unruly Kent doesn't actually have mud on his nose, just freckles, and she's seeing him in a new way. Even if there are parts of him that are still the same. And he really is such a personification of disorder, with his appearance plus the way he's disrupting the settled way things are supposed to be -- how Britt-Marie is supposed to be writing to and waiting for Alf, how she can't go out on a Saturday because she's needed at home. But there's something very tempting about the disorder now.
Tbh this is so fun to read fandom-blind because I really don't know what's going to happen, and I like just sort of going along the journey without know the endpoint yet.
<3 Melanie
Author's Response:Melanie, thank you for continuing to check out this series of angsty flash fictions. I really had fun playing with the formatting of this story. Idk what originally gave me the idea, just that it felt right for a story like this one to break up the first line between the chapter title and the actual content. Maybe because Britt-Marie's name is hyphenated, it sort of drives that point home? Idk. It just felt right hah.
One of the major themes in my grandmother asked me to tell you she's sorry is the way your perception of people can change based on how you're associated with them. It's something I've definitely tried to show in this series as well. Kent and Alf are both disorderly when it comes to how Britt-Marie perceives the world and wants to settle into her life, but for different reasons. I had a lot of fun writing them as children, Britt-Marie not understanding that freckles are endearing, thinking it's mud, but then growing up and being like "hmmm ok freckles are endearing, but damnit I'm stepping out with his older brother, so I shouldn't be thinking things, but thoughts are ok as long as they don't go beyond that, yeah?"
Anyway I'm so glad you still find this impactful fandom blind. Poor Britt-Marie goes through A LOT. And this is only the beginning. :(
<3 Courtney
ahh britt-marie. :|
i love her and i'm annoyed by her and i love that she's a loveable flawed character that's just so so human, y'know? and i feel as if even in just this first lil flash fiction piece about her you really manage to show that through her introspective about the (mangy) stray, the dirt that clings to kent, the way she thinks about her mother and how she's pretty much checked out and how it's britt-marie's duty to remind her of politeness...tthere's so much to unpack about her character and in a way, doing it like this, with just this one event of a stry dog, meeting alf and kent at the stairs, her mother banging on the doctor's door while she's drunk, britt-marie thinking about how she cleans up after her mother and on top of it all there's ingrid and her presence that's just ,,,almost suffocating in a way? especially knowing how britt-marie's life unfolds, and i feel like that's a perfect way to really get into her mindset and lead us through what...made britt-marie britt-marie. idk if i'm making any sense but the feelings and thoughts you managed to evoke with this and remind me of backman's books and all of it...it's just really great in this angst-y way that i love :o
kris
Author's Response:Ahh Kris, thank you for checking out my ode to Britt-Marie in the form of this fanfic. I felt very sorry for her by the end of the novel my grandmother asked me... and found it exceedingly poignant that "grandma," has the last and arguably the most meaningful apology for her. Because if anyone deserves happiness and good things, it is Britt-Marie. But yes, until that happens, this will be a series of expanded moments that shaped her character that we see in the book (or so I hope), so angst ahoy.
Thank you for this review and the swap opportunity!
<3 Courtney
Hi, I'm here for our review swap. I was going to do Season for Wallflowers but that one has so many reviews so I thought you might have wanted more input on this one.
I had never heard of the series but I did some quick checking. Thanks to Amazon summary (which I have to admit probably isn't the most indepth source to use), I'm betting you nailed Britt-Marie's character.
I love the introduction about her name and how the hyphen rudely wedges itself-great description and so creative!
As I read through the chapter, two things jump out at me 1.) How much the death (I assume) of Ingrid has changed her family. I envision Britt-Marie and Ingrid as complementing opposites, whereas Ingrid was free (and a bit dirty), Britt-Marie was stoic and orderly, yet they never let their differences keep them from being the best of friends.
As we trace Britt-Marie through her day, we began to see her idiosyncrasies and I wonder how much has always been a part of her and how much has developed since they lost Ingrid.
My heart really went out to her as her mother is banging on the door of the owner of that mangy dog. Since, she has already lost one daughter, I can see how this dog might might be overwhelming her mother, but I really feel for Britt-Marie. I'm not sure how old she is, but there's no doubt she is too young to be in charge of this crumbling family.
Great introduction. I love the characterization and detail. You really dive us into Britt-Marie's world. Now I'm thinking of ordering the book on Amazon.
Author's Response:Ahhh omgawsh, if you do decide to read these books, start with my grandmother asked me to tell you she's sorry. That is the best way to fully empathize with Britt-Marie as a character. Britt-Marie Was Here is a nice follow up to what happens to her after the events of that novel. But anyway, if you want to read the books and not be thoroughky spoiled, I would stop this story about Ch 10.
Your comments about Ingrid's death destroying her family made me smile. Because there is an actual line in my grandmother... that says this. So to hear I sort of made that apparent made me very happy! She is about ten in this opening chapter, so yes, you're absolutely right that she cannot be responsible for holding the family together. Anyway, thank you so much for reading this story and for sharing your thoughts!
I never expected anyone to be interested in this story, but I am so delighted to see it happen because I would absolutely protect this character at all costs xD
<3 Courtney
mountain mystery reviewing
I'm not crying, you're crying.
I feel so for this girl, who's always been told she's not pretty, and undeserving. Finally hearing the opposite from someone, and not being able to chase it. She feels bound to Mama out of a sense of duty, anxiety, fear of what might happen when Britt-Marie isn't there. I'm picking up themes of OCD too maybe?? By Mama I think? And so Britt-Marie can't have pretty shells and flowers and tangible representations of Alf's affections.
But that's ok in this moment because of how he says her name djksgfakgfgasd Okay and I love how in this chapter you've spelled it "BrittMarie" with no hyphen whenever he says it -- like it's all in one breath, all one lovely word -- such a contrast to the previous chapter where Kent says "Britt-Marie" choppy and broken and not pleasing to the ear. Like Alf finds the beauty in everything about her. And I love how in this chapter he keeps saying it, like he loves saying it as much as she loves hearing it. <333
Melanie
Author's Response:Oh gosh, yes. Britt-Marie and Alf...I have A LOT of feelings about them. And I too, have made tears well up in my eyes writing some of these chapters hah.
This chapter is actually speculation of how their romance first began (we don't fully know from the books how it started). But what we do know is that something happened (that will be a pretty big spoiler later on) to really wreck Britt-Marie's family, her self worth, and a lot of her first relationships.
And it's not really explicitly stated why Britt-Marie is so obsessed with things being neat and orderly and cleaning. I definitely read it as some kind of OCD as a result of what happens to her family in her formative years. And I think because with alcoholism things are so unpredictable (and hopefully it's clear that is what is happening with her mother, here), she controls the one thing she can control and that is what she'll allow herself to have and what she'll accept in the flat as clean or not clean.
Anyway, the way Kent and Alf say her name definitely has meaning to her. So I'm glad to have stirred up some feelings there in ya. It's not really anything explicitly stated in canon, but just in reading the book, the way they both talk to her...yeah...it inspired me to think back during their youth (they're in their 60s in the book) and how that might have looked as well.
Thank you so much for reading this little collection here, I am absolutely tickled anyone wanted to read any of it at all!
<3 Courtney
mountain mystery reviewing.
Ooooh. Ok, I haven't read these books, and I suspect that if I had, I would enjoy this even more, but the point is I felt fascinated reading it even not having any prior knowledge of this character. Like I'm coming into this reading it as if it were purely original fiction, an OC, and really it does feel like a complete little story unto itself. It's like a short story/ flash fiction you'd read in a literary magazine. Britt-Marie has such a distinctive voice and a way of thinking and observing. There's this sense of innocence intersecting with sorrow, and makes me want to know all about Britt-Marie and her mom. <3
Melanie
Author's Response:Ooh ok, so if you have not read these books and you want to, definitely don't read onward if you do not wish to be spoiled. If you likely won't read them, then please do carry on with this story because the later chapters (probably like ch 10 onward) will deal with the events of my grandmother asked me to tell you she's sorry. You're so sweet to say this could be in a literary magazine. If you do read Backman, you'll see I'm really just mimicking his writing style in this. ;) But anyway, the fact that you want to know more about Britt-Marie...yes, read this and/or the books and come cry with me as we flail about Britt-Marie, please do.
Thanks for your review on this!
<3 Courtney
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