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Beartown

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Beartown

By: Fredrik Backman
Narrated by: John Sackville
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About this listen

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Beartown by Fredik Backman, read by John Sackville.

Beartown is a small town in a large Swedish forest.

For most of the year it is under a thick blanket of snow, experiencing the kind of cold and dark that brings people closer together - or pulls them apart.

Its isolation means that Beartown has been slowly shrinking with each passing year. But now the town is on the verge of an astonishing revival. A bright new future is just around the corner.

Until the day it is all put in jeopardy by a single, brutal act.

It divides the town into those who think it should be hushed up and forgotten, and those who'll risk the future to see justice done. At last, it falls to one young man to find the courage to speak the truth that it seems no one else wants to hear.

With the town's future at stake, no one can stand by or stay silent. Everyone is on one side or the other.

Which side would you be on?

Previously published as The Scandal.

©2017 Fredrik Backman (P)2017 Penguin Audio Crime Thrillers Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Psychological Small Town & Rural Sports Suspense Thriller Thriller & Suspense

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Critic reviews

"As popular Swedish exports go, Backman is up there with ABBA and Stieg Larsson." (The New York Times Book Review)
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The book is well written and the plot moves at a good pace, while at the same time giving your the back story to each character. This review is more about the reading of the book. The book is well read except when it comes to the narrator reading the voices, he puts on the most awful accents that spoil the story. The book is set in Sweden yet his accents sound like some poor West Country accent from Cornwall, why did he do that? When he narrates the story in his normal voice it is extremely well read and a delight to listen to, but those accents are shockers!

Great story even if you don't like hockey

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I had a little break halfway when things were heavy but glad I came back to it. A fascinating glimpse into this world, on many levels.

Who knew, ice hockey can make a good story.

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A very thought provoking story. Narrators accents more west country than Nordic. Would recommend

Fascinating story line, interesting style

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I found the first few chapters harder to get into, but the reward after fully worth it. One of the best fiction books I have read for a long while.

What a great book, performance and story.

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I really liked this book. It started really slow, almost boring, but I think this helped creating the atmosphere of the town. As it went on, it become brilliant. The narration was a little weird, thought 🤔

Slow start and amazing ending

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It's an incredible social commentary on patriarchal society, on socio economics and human psychology. It's got huge depth and an incredible story. Highly recommend

Wooooow the intensity, the pace. Couldn't stop listening!

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The way the story was written was so engaging, the story was fabulous and the characters so well described. Really really enjoyed it.

Beautifully written.

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really love this book,its a rollercoaster of emotions, coming from a small village it reminded me of growing up and if you replaced hockey with rugby it was very much like the small town mentality that I grew up around. this book is definitely a must and should be available in schools to get kids to think about all of the subjects the book covers.

a must listen

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Brilliant story but one word missing from the synopsis - HOCKEY. Seriously- hockey hockey hockey!! I was going to return it for that reason... BUT the story kept me intrigued and I kept listening. The characters are so well formed and the story was rich and moving and in the end I loved it.... although I don’t want to hear anything about hockey for a very long time.

Brilliant story but one word missing from the synopsis - HOCKEY

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Who would have thought that a story about an ice hockey team would be one of the most incredible books I've read.

Surprising, shocking, absorbing

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