u003cbu003eInstant #1 u003ciu003eNew York Timesu003c/iu003e Bestselleru003c/bu003eu003cbru003e u003cbru003eu003cbu003eA u003ciu003ePeopleu003c/iu003e Book of the Week, Book of the Month Club selection, and Best of Fall in u003ciu003eGood Housekeepingu003c/iu003e, u003ciu003ePopSugaru003c/iu003e, u003ciu003eTheu003c/iu003e u003ciu003eWashington Postu003c/iu003e, u003ciu003eNu003c/iu003eu003ciu003eew Yorku003c/iu003eu003ciu003e Postu003c/iu003e, Shondaland, CNN, and more!u003c/bu003eu003cbru003e u003cbru003e“u003cbu003e[A] quirky, big-hearted novel…Wry, wise, and often laugh-out-loud funny, it’s a wholly original story that delivers pure pleasure.” —u003c/bu003eu003ciu003eu003cbu003ePeopleu003c/bu003eu003c/iu003eu003cbu003e u003c/bu003eu003cbru003e u003cbru003eu003cbu003eFrom the #1 u003ciu003eNew York Timesu003c/iu003e bestselling author of A u003ciu003eMan Called Oveu003c/iu003e comes a charming, poignant novel about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined.u003c/bu003eu003cbru003eu003cbru003eLooking at real estate isn’t usually a life-or-death situation, but an apartment open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage. The captives include a recently retired couple who relentlessly hunt down fixer-uppers to avoid the painful truth that they can’t fix their own marriage. There’s a wealthy bank director who has been too busy to care about anyone else and a young couple who are about to have their first child but can’t seem to agree on anything, from where they want to live to how they met in the first place. Add to the mix an eighty-seven-year-old woman who has lived long enough not to be afraid of someone waving a gun in her face, a flustered but still-ready-to-make-a-deal real estate agent, and a mystery man who has locked himself in the apartment’s only bathroom, and you’ve got the worst group of hostages in the world.u003cbru003e u003cbru003eEach of them carries a lifetime of grievances, hurts, secrets, and passions that are ready to boil over. None of them is entirely who they appear to be. And all of them—the bank robber included—desperately crave some sort of rescue. As the authorities and the media surround the premises these reluctant allies will reveal surprising truths about themselves and set in motion a chain of events so unexpected that even they can hardly explain what happens next.u003cbru003e u003cbru003eRich with Fredrik Backman’s “pitch-perfect dialogue and an unparalleled understanding of human nature” (u003ciu003eShelf Awarenessu003c/iu003e), u003ciu003eAnxious People u003c/iu003eis an ingeniously constructed story about the enduring power of friendship, forgiveness, and hope—the things that save us, even in the most anxious times.
