This is an in-person program. Regi stration is not required.
\n\n"#1 New York Times bests
elling author Fredrik Backman\, who "captures the messy essence of being h
uman" (The Washington Post)\, returns with an unforgettably funny\, deeply
moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful
that it changes a stranger's life twenty-five years later. Most people do
n'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 peopl
e think it's just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa\, an artist herself\,
knows otherwise and she is determined to find out the story of these thre
e enigmatic figures. Twenty-five years earlier\, in a distant town\, a gro
up of teenagers find refuge from their difficult home lives by spending th
eir days laughing and telling stories out on a pier. There's Joar\, who ne
ver backs down from a fight\; quiet and bookish Ted who is mourning his fa
ther\; Ali\, the daughter of a man who never stays in one place for long\;
and finally\, there's the artist\, a boy who hoards sleeping pills and sh
uns attention\, but who possesses an extraordinary gift that might be his
ticket to a better life. These four lost souls find in each other a reason
to get up each morning\, a reason to dream. Out of that summer emerges a
transcendent work of art\, a painting that will unexpectedly be put into e
ighteen-year-old Louisa's care. As she struggles to decide what to do with
this bequest\, she embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to
learn the story of how the painting came to be. The closer she gets to the
painting's birthplace\, the more she feels compelled to unleash her own a
rtistic spirit\, but happy endings don't always take the form we expect in
this fresh testament to the transformative power of friendship and art"--
Provided by publisher.