We are the bears….. We are the bears from Bear Town!!

A small, secluded village lies in one forgotten corner of Sweden; sleepy, downward bound in terms of economic growth but famous for only one thing, it’s Ice Hockey Team.

Peter used to be one of the most famous and well-loved player of Bear Town. He has moved away to gain better advantages not only in his favourite sport but also in life. Now, he is back in Bear Town as General Manager of the Bear Town Hockey Club from where he himself has started his hockey career eons ago. He is living in the middle class neighbourhood of Bear Town along with his wife – Keira and their two kids- Maya & Leo. Keira has left her promising legal practice behind to come settle down here with her family. Leo is taking lessons in loving hockey from his father, whereas Maya although likes hockey still is more in love with her guitar.

All the town’s hopes are now concentrated on the club’s Junior Team. Trained and fostered by David for almost a decade now, this team is now in their best form to take on the national championship. Kevin is a star player of this team, treated more like Sun among all the players circling him and basking in his reflective glow.

The team wins in the semi final with a spectacular victorious game. Kevin is efficiently supported by his teammates- Benji, BoBo, William and Amat. But this win and the celebrations thereof change the course of their lives.

Riding high on his success and high on toxic substances too; Kevin commits the gruesome, atrocious crime – Raping a minor by taking advantage of her inebriated status.

This becomes the pivotal point from which there is no point of return for Bear Town.

Friendships are tested, new ones are formed and old ones are severed. Family members look at each other in different light, in difficult circumstances. Some decisions are to be made and so, it’s necessary to decide on whose side one is standing. Battle cries are shouted and partition lines are drawn in the snow. What remains of Bear Town and its peoples defines the course of this novel.

In short it is a very interesting book to read because how it weaves story of a sport with human elements. Although I am not so familiar with the world of ice hockey, this book made it relatively easy to understand without going into too much of technical details.

However, what was more shocking to me were the reactions of Bear Town’s people and authorities. May be it was my naive worldview that such sexual crimes are treated more sensitively in the developed countries, so reading the aftermath of such crime in this book was bit of surprising to me.

It is to be mentioned specifically that the tone of the language and giving more details in short, articulated sentences treats the sensitive subject of the story in a more refined way.

Highly recommended; a book to be read by younger readers and also by their parents.