Calling all readers in Bath and beyond! On 7th October I’ll be at Mr B’s Emporium to interview Andrev Walden, the author of Bloody Awful In Different Ways. I loved this book.
This is what I had to say about it when I first read it:
Bloody Awful in Different Ways by Andrev Walden is so good. It’s already on my top ten reads of the year and I can’t imagine it getting bumped. Starting in 1983 seven-year-old Andrev has seven ‘dads’ in seven years, beginning with the one he thought was his biological father who turns out not to be, we meet all of the men that Andrev’s mother dates or moves in with, or move in with her. None of them seem to want Andrev or his half-siblings around. There is domestic violence but there is also humour, and my goodness Andrev Walden (an acclaimed Swedish journalist) can write. Andrev has told me on Instagram that even though it’s called a novel, it’s ‘a very true story’, and it certainly reads like one. Translated from Swedish by Ian Giles. Darkly funny, and comically tragic. An absolute gem. I loved it. Highly recommended.
This is what Mr B’s Emporium has to say:
Already a phenomenal international bestseller with a film adaptation in the works, Bloody Awful in Different Ways won the the 2023 August Prize, Sweden’s most prestigious literary award. This vivid and joyful novel follows a young boy who has seven fathers in seven years, and has already been loved by our bookseller Sue, who describes it as ‘poignant, funny and bloody brilliant in every way.’
And a bit about Andrev:
Andrev Walden is an acclaimed Swedish journalist and columnist who has worked for Dagens Nyheter and Aftonbladet. In 2017, he became the first columnist to be nominated for the Swedish Grand Prize for journalism, praised for his ability to ‘find the everyday drama in the big questions’, and to make us ‘laugh and see the world, the family and ourselves in a new and slightly wiser light’. He lives in Stockholm.
Hope to see you in Bath!