This book is about the old man Ove, who seems like a typical grumbling grandfather at first sight. In the mornings, he walks around the village territory, where his house is located. Any disorder makes him furious – an abandoned cigarette butt, an improperly parked car, toys scattered in the sandbox. He constantly finds fault with his neighbors and passersby, when they do something wrong.
Ove is 59 years old and has worked for 43 years in the same job. Now the day comes when two young bosses offer him do “personal growth”. Ove realizes that they just want to fire him, but he does not want to go to any courses. That is why he gets up and leaves. Life ceases to make sense for him after the death of his beloved wife and now he does not want to live anymore. Ove dresses in a costume, stands on a stool and he is going to hang himself, but it is bad luck. His new neighbors, who are settling in the house across the street, cannot park their trailer with things. Ove does not stand, removes the loop and he goes to park the car. Patrick and Parvaneh are a couple, who have two daughters and they are waiting for the third child.
Every day Ove goes to his wife in the cemetery and brings her flowers. He promises her that they will soon meet each other. Ove again tries to suicide, but suddenly the doorbell rings. As a token of gratitude, his new neighbors bring him a hearty meal and they ask him to borrow them a ladder. After Ove again tries to hang himself, but the rope breaks.
Ove goes to the garage, where with the help of the hose he intends to poison himself with exhaust gases in the salon of his favorite car. At this moment, he recollects his youth, their meeting with his beloved Sonja, their first date, and their tragic vacation trip, but Parvaneh is knocking at the door of Ove’s garage. Her husband Patrick falls from the stairs and she asks Ove to take her to the hospital. Ove again does not die. The next day Ove goes to the railway station, where he is going to throw himself under the train. A man next to him loses consciousness and falls on the rails. People do nothing, only shoot the incident on the cameras of their mobile phones, but the train is approaching. Ove raises the suffering man on the platform, but he remains on the rails. At the last moment, he remembers how in his childhood he almost got under the train and decided to leave this terrible plan.
Also in the book, there are still a lot of funny and interesting moments about Ove’s life. He and his wife were friends with the family of Rune and Anita. Ove and Rune always kept the order in their village, but they always disputed whose car was better. One day Parvaneh and Ove find a cat near his house, but Parvaneh cannot take it to her house, because she has an allergy. Therefore, the pet remains to live with Ove. After a while, the old man learns that Mirsad’s father drives him out of the house because the guy confesses that he is gay. At the request of Mirsad, Ove certainly shelters him for a while.
Once upon, workers of social services come to Anita’s house to take Rune to the nursing home, but Anita does not let them go into the house. She will take care of her husband herself and if it is necessary, her neighbors will help her. Lena, who is a journalist, studied the financial statements of the company, which the official represents. She has proof that he is involved in fraud. However, Lena will not make it public, if social workers immediately leave and will not bother these people anymore. All the inhabitants of the village support this idea and do not allow social workers to take Rune to the nursing home. Therefore, there is no other way and workers of social services leave the village. Ove talks to his friend and Rune smiles back.
One winter morning, Parvaneh remarks that Ove’s house is not cleared of snow. She and her husband run to Ove’s house and find out that the old man died quietly in his bed. Ove and Sonja are finally together again.
