The Nordic Novel ‘A Man Called Ove’ Is a Sleeper Hit

Three years ago, when Atria Books Editorial Director Peter Borland was sent the first 50 pages of a novel translated from the Swedish, he had no idea that what he held in his hands would become a national sensation. The book was by an unknown writer, but the story he told wasn’t another brooding, Scandinavian mystery like Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, a genre that had been selling like crazy over the past several years. Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove was, in fact, a ray of sunshine compared to the dark night of those novels—a touchy-feely look at what it means to be human.
Read more: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/09/03/the-nordic-novel-a-man-called-ove-is-a-sleeper-hit.html?source=Snapzu