Summary

In Chapter 1, Britt-Marie sits in the unemployment office thinking about how life, like cutlery, should be arranged properly and this arrangement should not be changed. If her life had followed this rule, she would not be in an unemployment office being offered coffee in a plastic mug by a girl with extremely short hair. She is shocked when the girl does not offer her a coaster but instead tells her to put her mug anywhere. The girl tries to coax information out of Britt-Marie to fill in her registration forms. Britt-Marie has no higher education and little work experience because she has focused on her husband and his children ever since she was married.

Because Britt-Marie feels the girl thinks there is little to taking care of a home, Britt-Marie thinks of the care and concern she put into making a home for...