Winning a junior ice hockey championship might not mean a lot to the average person, but it means everything to the residents of Beartown, a community slowly being eaten alive by unemployment and the surrounding wilderness. A victory like this would draw national attention to the ailing town: it could attract government funding and an influx of talented athletes who would choose Beartown over the big nearby cities. A victory like this would certainly mean everything to Amat, a short, scrawny teenager who is treated like an outcast everywhere but on the ice; to Kevin, a star player just on the cusp of securing his golden future in the NHL; and to Peter, their dedicated general manager whose own professional hockey career ended in tragedy.
At first, it seems like the team might have a shot at fulfilling the dreams of their entire town. But one night at a drunken celebration following a key win, something happens between Kevin and the general manager’s daughter—and the next day everything seems to have changed. Accusations are made and, like ripples on a pond, they travel through all of Beartown, leaving no resident unaffected. With so much riding on the success of the team, the line between loyalty and betrayal becomes difficult to discern. At last, it falls to one young man to find the courage to speak the truth that it seems no one else wants to hear.
Fredrik Backman knows that we are forever shaped by the places we call home, and in this emotionally powerful, sweetly insightful story, he explores what can happen when we carry the heavy weight of other people's dreams on our shoulders.
【瑞典】弗雷德里克·巴克曼
2016、2017瑞典年度作家。成名作《一个叫欧维的男人决定去死》在全球创下了惊人的销量，已被翻译超过44种语言，同名电影更荣膺奥斯卡最佳外语片提名。之后推出的《外婆的道歉信》和《清单人生》也取得了巨大成功。“暖心三部曲”三部曲全球销量总和突破1300万册。
《熊镇》系列是巴克曼“暖心三部曲”之后创作生涯的一个里程碑。在这部作品中，他大胆地突破了自己擅长的叙事模式和视角，将描写对象从老人和小孩延展至小镇群像，借由一次意外事故之后人们的选择透彻地检视了人性的柔弱与坚强，直击人心最深处的伤痛和温柔。
郭腾坚
瑞典斯德哥尔摩大学翻译所硕士，现居瑞典斯德哥尔摩。译作包括《戴上手套擦泪》三部曲、
《熊镇》系列和《流沙刑》。