Intermittently dispersed throughout the novel’s present tense chapters are chapters written in past tense that recount Ove’s history: how his mother died when he was six how he was raised by a strict but fair father, whose inspirational integrity guided Ove throughout his entire life how circumstances led him to meet his beloved Sonja how his life was changed by marrying her and how other circumstances challenged and changed their marriage irrevocably. Over the course of the narrative, Ove becomes increasingly angry about this situation, eventually drawing on the support of a number of unexpected allies: his pregnant neighbor Parvaneh and her husband Patrick the yuppie across the street (Anders) a pushy journalist (Lena) and three young men, each struggling to define their identities … the diffident Adrian, the flamboyantly gay Mirsad, and the overweight Jimmy. Plans are being made, without permission from either of them, to move Rune into a care facility.

Central to the narrative of this recent past is Ove’s discovery that one-time friends up the road, Rune and Anita, are facing an extremely painful situation: Rune’s Alzheimer’s is getting the better of him, and Anita is struggling to take care of him. Chapters written in present tense describe his experiences in the more recent past: his frequent attempts to kill himself in the aftermath of his wife’s death how those attempts are continually foiled, albeit accidentally, by the sudden appearances in his life of people (and animals) who need his help and by the development of unexpected connections and friendships with those people (and animals). The narrative then begins a book-long sequence of explanations as to how and why Ove got to the point of needing and wanting to buy a computer. The conversation ends in frustration for Ove, who storms out of the store.

The novel begins with a description of 59-year-old Ove struggling to communicate with a young man who is trying to sell him a computer.

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