Originally broadcast at 3:30 p.m. ET Thursday, July 29, 2021.

A desperate man attempts and fails to rob a bank. After the police arrive, he flees and enters an apartment open house where he takes a diverse group of strangers hostage.

Each of the characters carries a lifetime of grievances, hurts, secrets, and passions that are ready to boil over. None of them is entirely who they appear to be. And all of them—the bank robber included—desperately crave some sort of rescue. As the authorities and the media surround the premises, these reluctant allies will reveal surprising truths about themselves and set in motion a chain of events so unexpected that even they can hardly explain what happens next.

The author of A Man Called Ove and My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, Fredrik Backman’s new novel, Anxious People, is a confirmation of the storytelling prowess that made USA Today call him “a master of writing delightful, insightful, soulful, character-driven narratives.”

About Chautauqua Institution: Chautauqua Institution is a community on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York state that comes alive each summer with a unique mix of fine and performing arts, lectures, interfaith worship and programs, and recreational activities. As a community, we celebrate, encourage and study the arts and treat them as integral to all of learning, and we convene the critical conversations of the day to advance understanding through civil dialogue. CHQ Assembly is the online expression of Chautauqua Institution's mission.