Fredrik Backman

Was a blogger and a forklift driver in Sweden, and A Man Called Ove was rejected before a small publisher took it, and then sold in the tens of millions.

Ove is a widower who keeps being interrupted, mid-plan, by neighbours who need help with something. Backman's method is consistent: a character presented as impossible, then slowly explained until the reader is ashamed of the first impression.

Beartown moves to a hockey town after an accusation against its star player splits it, and it is a colder book than anything before it. He writes sentiment that earns itself, mostly by putting the cruelty in first.