Summary | Excerpt | Reading Guide | Reviews | Readalikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio
Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
May 2015, 192 pages
Paperback:
Jun 2016, 192 pages
A spare yet eloquent, bittersweet yet inspiring story of a man and a woman who, in advanced age, come together to wrestle with the events of their lives and their hopes for the imminent future.
In the familiar setting of Holt, Colorado, home to all of Kent Haruf's inimitable fiction, Addie Moore pays an unexpected visit to a neighbor, Louis Waters. Her husband died years ago, as did his wife, and in such a small town they naturally have known of each other for decades; in fact, Addie was quite fond of Louis's wife. His daughter lives hours away in Colorado Springs, her son even farther away in Grand Junction, and Addie and Louis have long been living alone in houses now empty of family, the nights so terribly lonely, especially with no one to talk with.
Their brave adventures - their pleasures and their difficulties - are hugely involving and truly resonant, making Our Souls at Night the perfect final installment to this beloved writer's enduring contribution to American literature.
1
And then there was the day when Addie Moore made a call on Louis Waters. It was an evening in May just before full dark.
They lived a block apart on Cedar Street in the oldest part of town with elm trees and hackberry and a single maple grown up along the curb and green lawns running back from the sidewalk to the two?—?story houses. It had been warm in the day but it had turned off cool now in the evening. She went along the sidewalk under the trees and turned in at Louis's house.
When Louis came to the door she said, Could I come in and talk to you about something?
They sat down in the living room. Can I get you something to drink? Some tea?
No thank you. I might not be here long enough to drink it. She looked around. Your house looks nice.
Diane always kept a nice house. I've tried a little bit.
It still looks nice, she said. I haven't been in here for years.
She looked out the windows at the side yard where the night was ...
More books by Kent Haruf
If you liked Our Souls at Night, try these:
by Yu Miri
Published 2021
A surreal, devastating story of a homeless ghost who haunts one of Tokyo's busiest train stations.
One Night Two Souls Went Walking
by Ellen Cooney
Published 2020
A young interfaith chaplain is joined on her hospital rounds one night by an unusual companion: a rough-and-tumble dog who may or may not be a ghost.
"Someone will remember us, I say, even in another time."
—Sappho, fragment ...
River Sing Me Home
by Eleanor Shearer
A remarkable debut about a mother's gripping journey across the Caribbean to find her stolen children in the aftermath of slavery.
Wade in the Water
by Nyani Nkrumah
A gripping debut novel of female power and vulnerability, race, and class set in a small Mississippi town in the early 1980s.
Moonrise Over New Jessup
by Jamila Minnicks
"Jamila Minnicks pulled me into pages of history I'd never turned before."—Barbara Kingsolver
The low brow and the high brow
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
