A poignant, charming novel about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined
Looking at real estate isn't usually a life-or-death situation, but an apartment open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage. The captives include a recently retired couple who relentlessly hunt down fixer-uppers to avoid the painful truth that they can't fix up their own marriage. There's a wealthy banker who has been too busy making money to care about anyone else and a young couple who are about to have their first child but can't seem to agree on anything, from where they want to live to how they met in the first place. Add to the mix an eighty-seven-year-old woman who has lived long enough not to be afraid of someone waving a gun in her face, a flustered but still-ready-to-make-a-deal real estate agent, and a mystery man who has locked himself in the apartment's only bathroom, and you've got the worst group of hostages in the world.
Each of them carries a lifetime of grievances, hurts, secrets, and passions that are ready to boil over. None of them is entirely who they appear to be. And all of them—the bank robber included—desperately crave some sort of rescue. As the authorities and the media surround the premises, these reluctant allies will reveal surprising truths about themselves and set in a motion a chain of events so unexpected that even they can hardly explain what happens next.
Humorous, compassionate, and wise, Anxious People is an ingeniously constructed story about the enduring power of friendship, forgiveness, and hope—the things that save us, even in the most anxious of times.
TW: Suicidal thoughts
REVIEW: "Some people accept that they will never be free of their anxiety, they just learn to carry it. She tried to be one of them. She told herself that was why you should always be nice to other people – even idiots. Because you never know how heavy their burden is."
This was probably one of the greatest books I've ever read. It was absolutely crazy and chaotic but in the best way. All of the characters are all tangled up in each other in a bizarre and beautiful ways. All the different relationships in this book are are so beautiful even though none of them have it all figured out. I love how even when the main plot is done we still get glimpses of all the characters lives after the fact. This book was probably one of the most honest and realistic views on the human experience and the anxieties we all have as adults. In the end this was a book about all the different relationships we have in our lifetimes and how important they all are no matter how small or fleeting. This is a book I will forever recommend to ever adult and a definite new comfort read for me that I found just when I needed it.
Publication Date: September 8, 2020
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