My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry

Like Elsa, Granny is considered different. At 77 years of age, Granny is an eccentric with little regard for rules or social conventions. As a result, she frustrates the rule-followers in the building, especially Mum and Britt-Marie. Granny is not afraid to stand up to authority if she senses injustice, and she is Elsa’s biggest defender when she gets in trouble at school. As Elsa says, Granny is the sort of person you take into battle with you. Granny is also a masterful storyteller, and the creator of all the fairy tales set in the Land-of-Almost-Awake.

When the novel begins, Granny is seriously ill with cancer. After Granny’s death, Elsa learns much more about her past life as a doctor. A former surgeon who traveled to war-torn countries all over the world, Granny’s superpower was saving lives. The tenants in Granny’s building are all people Granny rescued in one way or another. Though Granny was certainly a hero, her profession came at the cost of her relationship with Mum, who resented Granny for never being around during her childhood. Because she felt she was not a good mother to Mum, Granny retired after Elsa was born and found new purpose in caring for her. Elsa was “all her second chances” (145).

At the end of the novel, Granny is revealed to be the owner of the building she lives in. Because the tenants are all people she rescued, Granny feels responsible for them and is committed to providing them with safe shelter. Granny’s deep trust in Elsa’s intelligence and sense of fairness inspires her to give the building to Elsa in her will, knowing that Elsa, like Granny herself, “wouldn’t do anything with the house that might bring anyone who lived in it to harm” (350).

Mum is Granny’s daughter and Elsa’s mother. Divorced from Elsa’s father, Mum is expecting a baby with her boyfriend George. Mum is as orderly and organized as Granny is chaotic and impulsive. As a manager at the hospital where Granny is an inpatient, Mum is used to being in charge. However, she doesn’t like conflict and often avoids it in uncomfortable situations. For example, she allows her neighbor Britt-Marie to nag and scold her without complaint. In the headmaster’s office, Mum would rather apologize for Elsa’s behavior than get in an argument about it, even when Elsa did nothing wrong.

Despite their difficult relationship, Mum is deeply affected by Granny’s death. Although growing up without her mother at home was difficult for Mum, she tries to understand the choices Granny made, telling Elsa that “all superheroes have to make sacrifices” (138). The more Mum reveals to Elsa regarding their fellow tenants, the closer Mum and Elsa become. Mum (and George) demonstrate their affection and approval of Elsa when they name their baby Harry, after Elsa’s favorite literary character. By the end of the story, Mum has reconnected with all the tenants as well, establishing a communal Sunday night dinner ritual.

Britt-Marie is the self-appointed authority figure in Granny’s building. She is a big believer in rules and insists that those around her follow them. Because of this, she is Granny’s nemesis.

With an insatiable desire to be needed, Britt-Marie supports her husband Kent unequivocally, even when he displays cruel behavior, such as trying to poison the wurse. However, there are occasional hints of humanity in Britt-Marie’s eyes that suggest she is not as cold-hearted as she appears. As time goes on, Britt-Marie acts more according to her own convictions instead of allowing herself to be manipulated by Kent. She protects the wurse from the police, and she stops the fight between Wolfheart and Sam, thus preventing Wolfheart from becoming a murderer. After Kent’s affair is revealed, Britt-Marie finally becomes her own person. She takes off her wedding ring, packs her bags into Granny’s car, and sets off alone for an unknown adventure. However, she continues to write weekly postcards to both Alf and Kent, “as women like Britt-Marie do” (369).

“The Monster” is Elsa’s name for the tenant on the first floor of Granny’s building. Everyone is afraid of him, but no one ever sees him “because he never goes out in the daytime” (28). He is the first recipient of Granny’s letters, and Elsa soon learns that he is the person whom Wolfheart from Granny’s stories was based on. He is also “Werewolf Boy,” the boy from the photograph on Granny’s ceiling.

Wolfheart has the heart of a poet and the soul of a warrior. Granny saved Wolfheart from one of the war-ravaged countries she worked in. Kind and gentle by nature, Wolfheart is “broken” because of the things he saw in the war. This causes some antisocial behavior, such as his unwillingness to talk to people, the way he disappears for days at a time, and his obsessive-compulsive handwashing.

Wolfheart obeys Granny’s request to defend Elsa, shielding her against the bullies at school and Sam. Though he beats Sam, almost killing him, his actions are considered self-defense, and he is allowed to return to the building. By the end of the novel, Wolfheart interacts more with the other tenants and seeks therapy to try and “live rather than just existing” (368).

Dad is Elsa’s father. He is divorced from Mum and now lives with his wife Lisette. He has a preoccupation with tiny details and does not do well with the unexpected. Elsa only goes to his house every other weekend, because “Dad said it was too ‘messy’ for Elsa there” (69). However, after Granny’s death, Dad takes on more responsibility for picking up Elsa after school, and they develop a closer relationship. Elsa tells Dad that she inherited her love of words from him. When Dad comes to pick up Elsa to go Christmas tree shopping, this marks a turning point in their relationship; the activity that he used to do because it was important to Elsa has become the activity she does because it is important to Dad. When Elsa finally gets the courage to ask Dad if she can spend more time with him and Lisette, he is “quite overwhelmed” and tells her she can stay with them as often as she likes.

Our Friend is Granny’s name for the enormous black dog she keeps in an apartment next to Wolfheart’s. Elsa fears Our Friend at first but later realizes the dog is a friend to Granny and to her as well. Elsa also recognizes that the dog is represented by “the wurse” in Granny’s story, a huge beast that is the castle’s fiercest defender. After Granny’s death, Elsa and Wolfheart start hiding the wurse so that he won’t be taken away. Like Wolfheart, the wurse is Elsa’s protector. While defending her from Sam, the wurse is fatally stabbed. Elsa is devastated because she has come to regard the wurse as her best friend. Wolfheart helps Elsa understand that in the circle of life, everyone must die in their time. That Elsa’s baby brother is born on the day of the wurse’s death reinforces this lesson.

Alf is a taxi driver who “wears a leather jacket under a layer of irascibility” (27). His demeanor is generally gruff, and he swears a lot. Alf acts as a kind of guardian for Elsa. Elsa suspects that Alf may have had an affair with Granny at one point, but Alf refuses to answer her questions.

Alf is Kent’s older brother. As children, both Alf and Kent were in love with Britt-Marie. Alf won her heart, but he lost her when he went away to war and had an affair. He has never fallen in love with anyone else, and Alf and Kent’s relationship has been uneasy relationship ever since. However, despite “a whole life of conflict between them” (368) and the fact that Alf calls Kent “an idiot,” he still cares for his brother. When Alf learns that Kent had a heart attack, the phone “trembles against his ear. His face becomes transparent” (315). After Kent’s recovery, the brothers move past their resentment and differences to repair their relationship.

The woman in the black skirt lost her husband and two sons in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. After they were confirmed dead, Granny brought the woman back to her building to live. During the day, she is a well-put-together professional. At night, she becomes the building’s “drunk,” haunted by her memories of the tragedy. In the Land-of-Almost-Awake, she is represented by the sea-angel, whose appearance alternates between beautiful and monstrous. She initially lashes out when confronted with memories of her boys, but she later finds comfort in playing with the boy in the syndrome. These steps toward healing and connecting with others is symbolized through her attire, as she trades her black skirt for jeans. In the end, she attends group therapy sessions where she can talk about her past and try to fix what is broken inside her.

Kent is Britt-Marie’s husband. He’s an entrepreneur who “likes telling you how much everything costs” (25). He is extremely enthusiastic about the idea of turning the apartments into leaseholds because he believes doing so will turn a profit. Kent was married before and has two grown children whom he loves but rarely sees. Although Alf says Kent is an “idiot,” he does admit that Kent took good care of their mother while she was alive. After his heart attack, Kent’s affair is exposed, and Britt-Marie leaves him. When he is released from the hospital, Kent returns to the apartment building and reconciles with Alf, “as brothers do” (369).

Lennart and Maud are described as the two nicest people in the world. They live in Granny’s building with their small dog. Lennart is always brewing coffee, and Maud “has always just baked some cookies” (27). Lennart and Maud are the parents of Sam and the grandparents of the boy with the syndrome. Although they were incredibly loving parents, Sam grew up angry and dark-tempered, something Maud blames herself for, because she refuses to believe that anyone is born evil. Lennart and Maud are inherently kind and compassionate—they were the ones who first brought the boy with the syndrome and his mother to Granny for help when they were abused by Sam and, despite this crime and others, they visit Sam every other week when he is incarcerated, in an effort to “fight for the good” (367).