58 pages • 1 hour read
Fredrik Backman, Transl. Henning KochBritt-Marie Was Here
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2014A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Socio-Historical Context: Sweden and the Global Financial Crisis of 2008
The global financial crisis of 2008 severely affected countries around the world. Sweden’s economy was not immune but recovered more quickly than other parts of both Europe and the globe. This was in part due to the previous Swedish financial crisis of the early 1990s; because of this experience, the country learned to “address the underlying causes of the [1990s] crisis to create an economic and financial system that [would] be more resilient when bad times return[ed]” in 2008 (Irwin, Neil, “Five Economic Lessons from Sweden, the Rock Star of the Recovery.” The Washington Post, 24 June 2011). While the Swedish GDP increased by 2011, the crisis’s effects on Sweden’s unemployment levels remained a consistent problem, especially for young people new to the workforce, people with lower levels of education, and migrants. While programs were put in place to train and motivate these groups—along with aging job-seekers and people with disabilities—for entry into the job market, many of these jobs were part-time, fixed-term, or temporary, especially for blue-collar workers, rather than the full-time job opportunities offered to white-collar workers. This only somewhat alleviated the unemployment problem, even as the overall economy recovered (Anxo, Dominique, and Thomas Ericson, “Labour Market Measures in Sweden 2008—13: The Crisis and Beyond.” International Labour Organization, 9 Feb. 2016).
This contrast is clearly depicted in Borg, where a majority of people are blue-collar workers—mainly truckers, but also nurses, like Ben’s mother. Many of them lost their jobs as the financial crisis hit, laid off by Fredrik to cut business costs. Their frustration at the lack of employment opportunities results in their own solutions, such as Ben’s father’s tax evasion, and hazy means of acquiring goods, reflected in Somebody’s shop. While some attempt business start-ups, others give up and spend their days drinking away their woes. Britt-Marie experiences this herself when she tries to find a job after leaving Kent—with her minimal education, negligible work experience, and advanced age, there are almost no jobs available that don’t require a training course. Britt-Marie takes her job for personal reasons rather than financial need, but for Sami, a young man who struggles to support his family, such miniscule job prospects are disastrous.
While Fredrik, as a boss of the trucking company, initially seems to fare better than the employees he dismissed, he is not immune from the crisis either, as evidenced by the furniture he sold off. Kent, a presumed white-collar entrepreneur initially seems successful—and in fact, declared the financial crisis over despite its continued effects over blue-collar areas like Borg—but he, too, eventually admits that his business failed. Therefore, while Sweden as a whole recovered quickly from the 2008 crisis, the novel depicts the ways its more vulnerable populations continued to struggle for years afterward.
Cultural Context: English Premier League Soccer Teams
The English Premier League is the “richest and arguably most prestigious” soccer league in the world, garnering the fourth highest global revenue and an annual revenue of £4.8 billion as of 2022 (“Useful Notes/English Premier League,” TV Tropes). This success is due in part to vast television coverage, but also to the quality of the players themselves. The history of the Premier League has been rocky—English teams were once banned from European leagues because of several stadium disasters at British games, but were eventually readmitted. In the 2010s, audiences were shocked when “Leicester City, a team of so-called castoffs, journey men, has-beens, and never-weres, overcame 5000-1 odds and won the Premiership” (“Useful Notes”). While the Borg youth team doesn’t reach the same level of success, parallel characteristics can be drawn between the two teams.
As for the real professional League teams referenced in the novel, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Tottenham are all part of the Big Six, teams that consistently do well in each competition. The teams function as personality indicators of a sort in the novel due to their distinguishing characteristics.
Aston Villa, based in Birmingham, is “a typical mid-table side” team; the highest they ever placed was second in the 1992/1993 season, and were almost relegated in the 2014/2015 season (“Useful Notes”). They tend to play middling to very badly, though in more recent years they have surprised fans with their improvements. This mixed success is represented in the Aston Villa/Liverpool game of Chapter 37, in which they manage to tie 2-2. Bank, who supports them, ostensibly does so because no one else does, “and because they have nice jerseys” (315).
Chelsea, briefly mentioned at the end of the novel, is controversial due to its “bus-parking” play strategies, heavy funding from its original Russian owner, and its “(ab)use of the loaning system” (“Useful Notes”). Tottenham is one of its rivals. Chelsea were League Champions in the 2014/2015 and 2016/2017 seasons. Borg villagers have a distaste for the team.
Liverpool is a highly successful team that became League Champion in the 2019/2020 season. Though they have consistently strong players, they still attract fans of the underdog; one of their rivals is Manchester United. Many Borg residents—underdogs themselves—are Liverpool fans; according to Sami, this means that one “always [...] think[s] you can turn anything around [...] Especially after that Champions League final” (163).
Manchester United is a fan favorite and has significant monetary influence; it also won a record 13 Premier League titles. Liverpool is one of its primary rivals. The team has had varying degrees of success and controversy. Kent supports this team, much to Bank’s disgust. Much like most of Kent’s character portrayal, Bank describes Manchester United fans thus: “They always win. So they’ve started believing they deserve to” (210). Similarly to the professional team, Kent—once a successful entrepreneur—also falls on hard times at the end of the novel.
Tottenham is a London-based team, and at their highest rank reached second place in the 2016/2017 season. While the team usually scores unremarkably, it has also had periods of success. Bank’s father was a staunch Tottenham supporter, but she feels that they are “the worst kind of bad team, because they’re almost good. […] They make you hope. So you go on loving them and they carry on finding more and more innovative ways of disappointing you” (188). Given her rocky relationship with her late father, Bank believes she bears a strong resemblance to Tottenham’s characteristics, as well.
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