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Table of Contents
About The Book
Return to the close-knit, resilient community of Beartown with this “engrossing page-turner” (Woman’s World) about first loves, second chances, and last goodbyes—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Anxious People and A Man Called Ove.
Over the course of two weeks, everything in Beartown will change.
Two years have passed since the events that no one wants to think about. Everyone has tried to move on, but there’s something about this place that prevents it. The destruction caused by a ferocious late-summer storm reignites the old rivalry between Beartown and the neighboring town of Hed, a rivalry which has always been fought through their ice hockey teams.
Maya Andersson and Benji Ovich, two young people who left in search of a better life, come home and joyfully reunite with their closest childhood friends. There is a new sense of optimism and purpose in the town, embodied in the impressive new ice rink that has been built down by the lake.
Maya’s parents, meanwhile, are caught up in an investigation of the hockey club’s murky finances, and Amat—once the star of the Beartown team—has lost his way after an injury and a failed attempt to get drafted into the NHL. Simmering tensions between the two towns turn into acts of intimidation and then violence. All the while, a fourteen-year-old boy grows increasingly alienated from this hockey-obsessed community and is determined to take revenge on the people he holds responsible for his beloved sister’s death. He has a pistol and a plan that will leave Beartown with a loss that is almost more that it can stand.
Discover what it means to forgive with this “hell of a conclusion to an outstanding series” (Booklist, starred review).
Over the course of two weeks, everything in Beartown will change.
Two years have passed since the events that no one wants to think about. Everyone has tried to move on, but there’s something about this place that prevents it. The destruction caused by a ferocious late-summer storm reignites the old rivalry between Beartown and the neighboring town of Hed, a rivalry which has always been fought through their ice hockey teams.
Maya Andersson and Benji Ovich, two young people who left in search of a better life, come home and joyfully reunite with their closest childhood friends. There is a new sense of optimism and purpose in the town, embodied in the impressive new ice rink that has been built down by the lake.
Maya’s parents, meanwhile, are caught up in an investigation of the hockey club’s murky finances, and Amat—once the star of the Beartown team—has lost his way after an injury and a failed attempt to get drafted into the NHL. Simmering tensions between the two towns turn into acts of intimidation and then violence. All the while, a fourteen-year-old boy grows increasingly alienated from this hockey-obsessed community and is determined to take revenge on the people he holds responsible for his beloved sister’s death. He has a pistol and a plan that will leave Beartown with a loss that is almost more that it can stand.
Discover what it means to forgive with this “hell of a conclusion to an outstanding series” (Booklist, starred review).
Reading Group Guide
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This reading group guide for The Winners includes an introduction, discussion questions, ideas for enhancing your book club, and a Q&A with author Fredrik Backman. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.
Introduction
The long-awaited conclusion to the beloved Beartown Series, which follows the small hockey town’s residents as they grapple with change, pain, hope, and redemption.
Maya Andersson and Benji Ovich, two young people who left in search of a life far from the forest town, come home and joyfully reunite with their closest childhood friends. They can see how much Beartown has changed. There is a sense of optimism and purpose in the town, embodied in the impressive new ice rink that has been built down by the lake.
Two years have passed since the events that no one wants to think about. Everyone has tried to move on, but there’s something about this place that prevents it. The destruction caused by a ferocious late-summer storm reignites the old rivalry between Beartown and the neighboring town of Hed, a rivalry which has always been fought through their ice hockey teams. Maya’s parents, Peter and Kira, are caught up in an investigation of the hockey club’s murky finances, and Amat—once the star of the Beartown team—has lost his way after an injury and a failed attempt to get drafted into the NHL. Simmering tensions between the two towns turn into acts of intimidation and then violence. All the while, a fourteen-year-old boy grows increasingly alienated from this hockey-obsessed community and is determined to take revenge on the people he holds responsible for his beloved sister’s death. He has a pistol and a plan that will leave Beartown with a loss that is almost more that it can stand.
As it beautifully captures all the complexities of daily life and explores questions of friendship, loyalty, loss, and identity, this emotion-packed novel asks us to reconsider what it means to win, what it means to lose, and what it means to forgive.
Topics & Questions for Discussion
1. The Winners opens with a storm that rages across Beartown and Hed. How do different people (Ana, Hannah, Johnny, Kira, Peter, Tails, etc.) react in this extraordinary situation, what does it reveal about their characters? What are some of the unexpected things that happen as a result?
2. For the first time in years, we are told, the Beartown hockey team is better and more well-funded than the Hed team. How has their newfound superiority changed their attitudes toward their neighbors? How have the people from Hed reacted to being second best? What examples in your own life can you think of with a role reversal such as this and what were the effects?
3. Fredrik Backman chose to write about two towns obsessed with hockey and the drama that comes from their passionate feelings about the game. Are there other kinds of activities besides sports that can inspire such strong feeling of connection and personal identification in a community? If you aren’t a hockey fan, did the book still speak to you?
4. Ramona, the prickly owner of the Bearskin pub, says early in the book, “Here in the forest people are more dependent on each other than in big cities. People here are stuck together” (pg. 3). Is this true for Maya who comes back to Beartown after going to college in the big city? For Benji who leaves and comes back? Discuss among the group your own experiences or ideas about living in a small town verses a big city, do you find what Ramona says holds true?
5. Both Beartown and Hed want to win, but more than that we are told they want to watch the other town lose. How does this attitude shape the events of the novel?
6. There are a few different depictions of father/daughter relationships in the book. Are there certain common themes that connect them? How is each one unique? What does Fredrik Backman have to say about the emotional landscape of parenting?
7. Ruth and Maya grew up in Beartown around the same time, and they left home within six months of each other. They each endured a horrific sexual assault, but then their stories took very different paths. What do you think it was that allowed Maya to survive her experience while Ruth did not?
8. Over the three books in the Beartown trilogy, Amat has gone from an underdog to a champion, but in The Winners, he is faced with his biggest challenges yet. Why does Amat struggle despite all his natural talent? How does the way we handle success sometimes put us on the road to failure?
9. Backman writes of Teemu, one of the Beartown hockey hooligans, “People like him need a future, otherwise they sink” (pg. 129). How are the prospects of each town and the economic situation tied to the violent events that unfold in the novel? How does having a plan for the future help troubled youths like Teemu from sinking?
10. What is Ramona’s role with the youth of Beartown? How does she act as an unconventional parental figure in their lives? Does she remind you of any people in your own life who helped raise you who weren’t your parents?
11. Backman writes “’Marriage.’ There ought to be a different word for it once you’ve been married for enough years. When you’ve long since passed the point where it stopped feeling like a choice.” (pg. 317) What do you think Fredrik Backman means? Do you agree with this statement?
12. Lev is one of the most surprising characters in the book. In what ways did your perceptions of him change over the course of the novel? In what ways does Lev fit in perfectly with the rest of Beartown?
13. Kira’s psychologist asks her to choose if she’d rather be important or loved, and Kira refuses to answer. What do you think the real answer for Kira would be? How would you answer the question for the other characters? Yourself?
14. Backman uses the word “bang” as a motif throughout the novel. What different sounds does this word represent? How do you see the author using it for different purposes in different parts of the book?
15. The young girl Alicia is a hockey prodigy; in what ways does she represent change in Beartown? In what ways does she represent the same old Beartown?
16. The Winners asks us to consider whether everyone is deserving of forgiveness, and if someone who commits a terrible crime can be punished enough to wipe their slate clean. What do you think about these challenging questions? Has there been a time in your life when you’ve struggled with forgiving someone else? With forgiving yourself?
17. There are so many powerful and emotional moments in the book, what part of the book moved you the most?
Enhance Your Book Club
1. In the spirit of Maya’s songwriting, pick a character from the novel and write a song or poem about them to share with your book club.
2. Watch the hockey documentary “Of Miracles and Men” about the greatest upset in hockey history. Do you understand the rivalry between Hed and Beartown and their obsession with hockey better after watching? How do the themes in The Winners speak to the themes of the film?
3. Follow author Fredrik Backman on Facebook and Twitter @Backmanland or visit https://www.fredrikbackmanbooks.com/ for news about upcoming books, events, and more
Introduction
The long-awaited conclusion to the beloved Beartown Series, which follows the small hockey town’s residents as they grapple with change, pain, hope, and redemption.
Maya Andersson and Benji Ovich, two young people who left in search of a life far from the forest town, come home and joyfully reunite with their closest childhood friends. They can see how much Beartown has changed. There is a sense of optimism and purpose in the town, embodied in the impressive new ice rink that has been built down by the lake.
Two years have passed since the events that no one wants to think about. Everyone has tried to move on, but there’s something about this place that prevents it. The destruction caused by a ferocious late-summer storm reignites the old rivalry between Beartown and the neighboring town of Hed, a rivalry which has always been fought through their ice hockey teams. Maya’s parents, Peter and Kira, are caught up in an investigation of the hockey club’s murky finances, and Amat—once the star of the Beartown team—has lost his way after an injury and a failed attempt to get drafted into the NHL. Simmering tensions between the two towns turn into acts of intimidation and then violence. All the while, a fourteen-year-old boy grows increasingly alienated from this hockey-obsessed community and is determined to take revenge on the people he holds responsible for his beloved sister’s death. He has a pistol and a plan that will leave Beartown with a loss that is almost more that it can stand.
As it beautifully captures all the complexities of daily life and explores questions of friendship, loyalty, loss, and identity, this emotion-packed novel asks us to reconsider what it means to win, what it means to lose, and what it means to forgive.
Topics & Questions for Discussion
1. The Winners opens with a storm that rages across Beartown and Hed. How do different people (Ana, Hannah, Johnny, Kira, Peter, Tails, etc.) react in this extraordinary situation, what does it reveal about their characters? What are some of the unexpected things that happen as a result?
2. For the first time in years, we are told, the Beartown hockey team is better and more well-funded than the Hed team. How has their newfound superiority changed their attitudes toward their neighbors? How have the people from Hed reacted to being second best? What examples in your own life can you think of with a role reversal such as this and what were the effects?
3. Fredrik Backman chose to write about two towns obsessed with hockey and the drama that comes from their passionate feelings about the game. Are there other kinds of activities besides sports that can inspire such strong feeling of connection and personal identification in a community? If you aren’t a hockey fan, did the book still speak to you?
4. Ramona, the prickly owner of the Bearskin pub, says early in the book, “Here in the forest people are more dependent on each other than in big cities. People here are stuck together” (pg. 3). Is this true for Maya who comes back to Beartown after going to college in the big city? For Benji who leaves and comes back? Discuss among the group your own experiences or ideas about living in a small town verses a big city, do you find what Ramona says holds true?
5. Both Beartown and Hed want to win, but more than that we are told they want to watch the other town lose. How does this attitude shape the events of the novel?
6. There are a few different depictions of father/daughter relationships in the book. Are there certain common themes that connect them? How is each one unique? What does Fredrik Backman have to say about the emotional landscape of parenting?
7. Ruth and Maya grew up in Beartown around the same time, and they left home within six months of each other. They each endured a horrific sexual assault, but then their stories took very different paths. What do you think it was that allowed Maya to survive her experience while Ruth did not?
8. Over the three books in the Beartown trilogy, Amat has gone from an underdog to a champion, but in The Winners, he is faced with his biggest challenges yet. Why does Amat struggle despite all his natural talent? How does the way we handle success sometimes put us on the road to failure?
9. Backman writes of Teemu, one of the Beartown hockey hooligans, “People like him need a future, otherwise they sink” (pg. 129). How are the prospects of each town and the economic situation tied to the violent events that unfold in the novel? How does having a plan for the future help troubled youths like Teemu from sinking?
10. What is Ramona’s role with the youth of Beartown? How does she act as an unconventional parental figure in their lives? Does she remind you of any people in your own life who helped raise you who weren’t your parents?
11. Backman writes “’Marriage.’ There ought to be a different word for it once you’ve been married for enough years. When you’ve long since passed the point where it stopped feeling like a choice.” (pg. 317) What do you think Fredrik Backman means? Do you agree with this statement?
12. Lev is one of the most surprising characters in the book. In what ways did your perceptions of him change over the course of the novel? In what ways does Lev fit in perfectly with the rest of Beartown?
13. Kira’s psychologist asks her to choose if she’d rather be important or loved, and Kira refuses to answer. What do you think the real answer for Kira would be? How would you answer the question for the other characters? Yourself?
14. Backman uses the word “bang” as a motif throughout the novel. What different sounds does this word represent? How do you see the author using it for different purposes in different parts of the book?
15. The young girl Alicia is a hockey prodigy; in what ways does she represent change in Beartown? In what ways does she represent the same old Beartown?
16. The Winners asks us to consider whether everyone is deserving of forgiveness, and if someone who commits a terrible crime can be punished enough to wipe their slate clean. What do you think about these challenging questions? Has there been a time in your life when you’ve struggled with forgiving someone else? With forgiving yourself?
17. There are so many powerful and emotional moments in the book, what part of the book moved you the most?
Enhance Your Book Club
1. In the spirit of Maya’s songwriting, pick a character from the novel and write a song or poem about them to share with your book club.
2. Watch the hockey documentary “Of Miracles and Men” about the greatest upset in hockey history. Do you understand the rivalry between Hed and Beartown and their obsession with hockey better after watching? How do the themes in The Winners speak to the themes of the film?
3. Follow author Fredrik Backman on Facebook and Twitter @Backmanland or visit https://www.fredrikbackmanbooks.com/ for news about upcoming books, events, and more
About The Author
Photograph © Linnéa Jonasson Bernholm/Appendix fotografi
Fredrik Backman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, Britt-Marie Was Here, Beartown, Us Against You, and Anxious People, as well as two novellas and one work of nonfiction. His books are published in more than forty countries. He lives in Stockholm, Sweden, with his wife and two children. Connect with him on Facebook and Twitter @BackmanLand and on Instagram @Backmansk.
About The Reader
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio (September 27, 2022)
- Length: 17 disks
- Runtime: 21 hours and 22 minutes
- ISBN13: 9781797144917
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Raves and Reviews
"By now, the Beartown series without Marin Ireland’s confident narration would be unimaginable. She maintains her consistently high standard, often with moving and ultimately heartbreaking results. Backman’s latest installment finds the residents of the beleaguered hockey town grappling with a severe approaching storm, while a mounting series of backdoor deals threaten the town’s identity even more permanently. The wide cast of characters returns for this expansive installment, with choices and decisions from past installments popping up again. Ireland smoothly meets the task, providing exacting performances of diverse voices while capturing the knowing voice of the community as a whole. She carries listeners to the emotionally shattering conclusion."
– Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award, AudioFile Magazine
"Backman writes with a signature rhythm: a little here, a bit more there, something of this person then that person, a tease about what will happen, warnings about what can’t. The result is a resonant symphony enhanced by the stupendous Ireland, who thankfully returns to Beartown as anointed cipher. The story here “shouldn't take long to tell,” Backman insists, “it starts right here and ends in less than two weeks, and how much can happen in two hockey towns during that time? Not much, obviously.” Oh, what understatement. Ireland embarks on an epic journey to conclude Backman's trilogy with satisfying sighs, plenty of tears, and maybe a wee bit of hope for humanity. The sudden death of local Bearskin bar owner Ramona brings home Maya and Benji, two lost souls who escaped after “the scandal” (when Kevin raped Maya and Beartown self-destructed). Ruth, whose truth was never believed, also returns—as virtually anonymous ashes—pushing her left-behind brother toward revenge against her local killers. Implosions prove inevitable. Ireland miraculously ensures that every voice is memorably heard; in addition to the beloved main cast, Ireland is equally magnificent with the smaller and no less important players including brilliant Zackell, mysterious Lars, prodigious Alicia, surprised Big City, and all the others. Backman admittedly meanders on occasion, but Ireland never misses a beat."
– Terry Hong, Booklist (Starred Review)
Resources and Downloads
High Resolution Images
- Book Cover Image (jpg): The Winners Unabridged Compact Disk 9781797144917
- Author Photo (jpg): Fredrik Backman Photograph © Linnéa Jonasson Bernholm/Appendix fotografi(0.1 MB)
Any use of an author photo must include its respective photo credit
