A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (FIC Bac)

Ove, a 59-year-old Swedish man, is a curmudgeon.  Rigid and set in his ways.  Follows the rules and expects others to follow them, too.  A cheapskate.  In the words of one of the characters, Ove "was the sort of man who, when he was not quite certain where he was going, just carried on walking straight ahead, convinced that the road would eventually fall into line."  And the road did.

Ove may be unbending but he had one great love in his life - his wife, Sonje who passed away six months before the novel opens.  Ove's goal is to join her and over the course of the novel he tries various ways to do just that.  His efforts are thwarted, however, by his new neighbors, Patrick and Parvaneh, and their two daughters.  He tries his best to resist them but finds himself drawn into their lives as they are drawn into his.  And then there's the stray cat that won't leave him alone.  His wife loved cats...

In alternating chapters we learn how Ove became the man he is, the story of his life with Sonje, and just how all those neighbors who thought they knew him so well were so wrong.  Ove's story is funny and heartwarming, heartbreaking and uplifting.  Ultimately it is the story of how one man's life can affect many others, no matter how hard he tries to ignore them.