Britt-Marie

"We're not animals, are we?"

Britt-Marie is a central character in My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry. A neighboring resident of Elsa and Ulrika, she acts as one of the book's minor antagonists. Her spinoff novel, Britt-Marie Was Here, was published by Fredrik Backman in 2014, and was released as a film in 2019 starring Pernilla August.

Britt-Marie's character is portrayed negatively in My Grandmother Asked Me due to her strict attitude towards social etiquette, but after her marriage is ended by infidelity, her positive sides are revealed.

Early life
As a child, Britt-Marie often found herself in the shadow of her older sister, Ingrid, who was superior at most things in life. Britt-Marie did not mind the lack of attention she received from her parents due to this, as she enjoyed staying in the background and keeping things presentable. She also loved Ingrid greatly; she proved to be the only person who acknowledged Britt-Marie's efforts. The two also shared a dream of traveling to Paris to become wealthy and famous. At a young age, however, Britt-Marie was involved in a severe car accident which left her unscathed but proved fatal for her sister.

With Ingrid gone, the two boys in Britt-Marie's apartment building, Alf and Kent, began competing for her attention. As Britt-Marie had always been the inferior sister, her drunken mother would often remind her that she had to find a husband who could support her financially rather than one who loved her. For this reason she chose to pursue a relationship with Alf rather than Kent. However, Alf quickly became bored of Britt-Marie and left her for a military career, so she fell back on Kent, patiently waiting for her.

At some point in her teenage years, Britt-Marie was employed as a waitress. Her relationship with Kent ultimately made her decide to quit her job and not engage in higher education or her Parisian dreams, preferring to be a housewife and support Kent's ambitions.

Marriage and adult life
After marrying Kent, Britt-Marie served as a faithful wife and took over care of their flat in the House with the help of her two favorite cleaning products, baking soda and Faxin (a window cleaner). She entertained small ideas for jobs, but at Kent's suggestion decided to wait. Britt-Marie looked after her mother in her last years, and then Kent's children, and lastly Kent's mother, until she felt herself far too old to find a job and change her lifestyle. Britt-Marie also dedicated several passionate years to the creation of a renters' association within the building, a notion which never came to fruition because her rival, Elsa's grandmother, was secretly the owner.

After forty years of marriage, Kent had a heart attack and had to be rushed to the hospital, where Britt-Marie met a young woman he had been having an affair with. She does not officially divorce Kent but leaves him to pursue a job opportunity in the small town of Borg.

Borg
After several perseverant days at the local unemployment office, Britt-Marie secures a temporary job as caretaker of the recreation center in the town of Borg, where almost everything has been closed due to a severe financial crisis. Within Borg, she meets several new people, including but not limited to Somebody, Karl, Sami, and Psycho. She also meets a small, struggling soccer team, which includes Vega, Omar, Toad, Dino, and Max, who adopt her as their coach so that they may enter a local competition. Britt-Marie also develops a romantic interest towards a policeman named Sven, who notably finds her a room to rent in the house of Bank, a former soccer player who is almost blind due to disease.

When Kent returns and apologizes to Britt-Marie after ending things with the other woman, she almost goes home with him several times. At first she ensures that she stays until the soccer competition, but ultimately stalls for approximately a week. Before leaving, she manages to sacrifice her job for a new soccer pitch for the small group of children she had bonded with; the previous pitch had been sold to build an apartment complex. At long last, she faces the fact that she cannot return to her previous life with Kent. Kent leaves the door open for her, saying he will wait for her until a certain point and then go home with or without her; however, the Borg soccer team surprises Britt-Marie with a group-effort farewell present: sufficient petrol to drive all the way to Paris and back. Britt-Marie decides to forget about the pressing attentions of Kent and Sven and drives off by herself in search of a new life.

Personality
Britt-Marie is extremely fastidious and detail-oriented. Social etiquette, organization, and cleanliness are all very important to her, and as a result she becomes privately critical towards others' behaviors. This eventually leads to a rivalry between her and Granny, as well as Ulrika and Elsa. Many people she meets refer to her as a "nag-bag." However, it does prove to come in handy later in life as caretaker of Borg's recreation center.

Perhaps a direct byproduct of her childhood under her sister's shadow, Britt-Marie has a deep internal desire to be seen and acknowledged. While she does not go as far to strive to be the center of attention, she is tired of a life where she is not recognized for what she does. This want is fulfilled temporarily on a few occasions, the most notable being her sister Ingrid and husband Kent. However, neither of these last long, as Ingrid's life is cut short and Kent's workaholic lifestyle soon makes him forget Britt-Marie's presence.

Appearance
Britt-Marie is an average-height woman. On the cover of Britt-Marie Was Here, she is shown to have brown hair. This is contradicted by Pernilla August's portrayal of Britt-Marie in the 2019 film, with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes (her eye color is not specified in the book series).

Britt-Marie always dresses very presentably and modestly. She has the distinct habit of brushing dust off her skirt that only she seems to see. She also has "really nice" hair[1]according to Ben and Ingrid.