I like Ove, who drives a Saab and believes only the self-employed and ‘other idiots’ drive Audis.

Yes, he’s single-minded and obsessive and completely lacking in the social graces.

But, scratch away at the surface and you’ll find a kindly bloke, who likes to do things by the book and who believes that ‘if men like him don’t take the initiative there’ll be anarchy’. 

Ove started life as a character in a blog written by author Fredrik Backman in his native Sweden.

Grumpy old Ove became so popular that Backman turned his story into a novel, A man called Ove.

It’s a bit of a slow starter and Ove initially seems so curmudgeonly that it takes a real effort to engage with his story.

It’s worth it though.

This is a beautiful, sparsely written account of late blossoming love – between Ove and his unconventional new neighbours, the friend he quarrelled with years ago and a bunch of other people who, like Ove, don’t quite fit in.

Published in more than 25 languages and a number one bestseller in Sweden, as well as a New York Times bestseller, this is a book about growing old, losing loved ones and starting again.

Themes that cross both borders and generations.

Together, Ove (pronounced oooh-ve) and his friends turn each other’s lives around and the ending left me in tears.

Will you cry too?

Review by Sue Featherstone

A Man called Ove is available to buy on Amazon.