The INSTANT Sunday Times Bestseller and Goodreads Choice Awards Fiction 2025 winner!

The beautiful new novel that will make you laugh and cry, from the global bestselling author of Anxious People and A Man Called Ove.

In the corner of a world-famous painting, three tiny figures sit on the end of a pier, a secret hidden in plain sight. Twenty-five years ago, a group of teenagers found solace in each other during one unforgettable summer. Their friendship inspired a transcendent work of art, a painting that now mysteriously belongs to eighteen-year-old aspiring artist Louisa.

Driven to learn the story behind its creation, Louisa embarks on a journey to the seaside town where it all began. But as she gets closer to the painting’s birthplace, Louisa learns that happy endings do not always take the form we expect.

Fredrik Backman returns with an unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a complete stranger’s life years later.