Introduction

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A Fallon Book Club Pick
WINNER OF THE 2025 GOODREADS CHOICE AWARDS FOR BEST FICTION
A Most Anticipated Book of 2025: Goodreads • USA TODAY • Marie Claire • BookPage • Literary Lifestyle • Book Riot • Sunset Magazine • Totally Booked with Zibby Owens

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Anxious People returns with an unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a complete stranger’s life twenty-five years later.

Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an aspiring artist herself, knows otherwise, and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures.

Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant seaside town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their bruising home lives by spending long summer days on an abandoned pier, telling silly jokes, sharing secrets, and committing small acts of rebellion. These lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream, a reason to love.

Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be placed into eighteen-year-old Louisa’s care. She embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn how the painting came to be and to decide what to do with it. The closer she gets to the painting’s birthplace, the more nervous she becomes about what she’ll find. Louisa is proof that happy endings don’t always take the form we expect in this stunning testament to the transformative, timeless power of friendship and art.

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Excerpt

Chapter One ONE
Louisa is a teenager, the best kind of human. The evidence for this is very simple: little children think teenagers are the best humans, and teenagers think teenagers are the best humans, the only people who don’t think that teenagers are the best humans are adults. Which is obviously because adults are the worst kind of humans. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

From the publisher--added by Pauline:

1. My Friends deals intimately with themes of friendship and loyalty, uniting characters who seem, from the outside, to be more different than alike. What is it that brings them together, and what does that say to you about the enduring power of human connection?

2. Was there a particular character that you identified with more than the others? Why?

3. The artist’s painting of the sea plays a pivotal role in the book, as it inspired the group of friends—and later Louisa—toward a common goal. Does art play a different role in the lives of young people than it does in adults? Do you think the painting’s significance changes as the friends grow older?

4. While being at times delightfully funny and lighthearted, My Friends also explores serious topics of loss, grief, and trauma. How did these topics, present from the very beginning, change your perspective of the individual characters as you got to know them?

5. The themes of redemption and second chances are present throughout the book. How do these second chances ultimately play out and how do they help to tie up the narrative and character arcs in the book?

6. Fredrik Backman often uses humor and wit to navigate through darker moments in his novels. Discuss some of your favorite moments of humor in My Friends. How did they impact your reading experience?

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