Freedom means not having to do what you don’t want to do.
A defence lawyer for a brutal crime boss, Bjorn is caught in a downward spiral. His marriage isn’t happy – their daughter is “not so much the child of their dreams but the child of his wife’s plans”.
Wife Katharina hates the job Bjorn does, but to escape the unhappiness at home, he works even harder, making home life even more difficult. Something has to give. So he goes on a Mindfulness course in an attempt to right the ship, with unforeseen consequences. It all starts to make sense to him.
He actually becomes mindful and appreciates the important things in life, like precious time with his daughter, which he resolves to be fully present for. When his client, crime boss Dragan Sergowicz’s actions threaten to derail that trip, it triggers a series of unexpected events.
The thread of mindfulness through the book makes the absurd events make complete sense as Bjorn justifies his actions in line with his new mindful thinking. He finally finds a happiness, and goes to extreme lengths to protect it. Even kill.
It’s brilliantly written – a comedy so very dark, the violence farcical and cartoon-like. It’s a book that I couldn’t put down as I had to follow the thread to see how everything ended up!
Many thanks to Netgalley and publisher Faber and Faber Ltd for this copy of the book for review.
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