Saturday, December 16, 2017

The Story of Arthur Truluv

The Story of Arthur Truluv by Elizabeth Berg


Arthur Moses is an eighty-five-year-old man who dearly misses his late wife, Nola. His heart aches for her.

So he visits her grave daily, often bringing small gifts or flowers as he eats lunch and reminisces about the life they shared. Along the way, Arthur stops to visit the buried he never knew. You see, Arthur has the striking ability to know their stories, feel their pain, and bask in the peacefulness of this quiet refuge the deceased call home.

It is on one of these soothing, tranquil days, that Arthur spots a young girl from afar. A tentative wave turns into an unlikely friendship between two lonely people. Her name is Maddy, and like Arthur, she enjoys talking to the dearly departed who live in this secluded cemetery. Maddy finds contentment there, away from cruel high school classmates who seem to take pleasure in ostracizing her. She grasps the elusive memory of a mother she knows only from faded photographs, a father who finds difficulty in comforting a daughter he doesn't understand, and an older lover who has discarded her. Maddy is all alone; that is, until she takes a chance on befriending an old, intuitive gentleman who miraculously finds the beauty hidden deep inside her.

Friendship turns into love and admiration, as Maddy and Arthur find that age has no boundaries
when it comes to matters of the heart. Arthur's pesky and persistent neighbor, Lucille, becomes part of this non-traditional family, after losing a love of her own. Together, they find blessings they thought only others were lucky enough to share.

A sweet, poignant story filled with laughter and tears, to lift your spirits this holiday season, reminding us that reaching out to others may bring the greatest joy of all.






Friday, December 8, 2017

Little Broken Things

Little Broken Things by Nicole Baart


"I have something for you".

As Quinn reads the cryptic message from her estranged sister, Nora, she's puzzled and confused. And when they meet face to face, her curiosity only deepens.

Cloaked in secrecy, Nora arrives accompanied by a little girl with "cherry-colored curls and stone-colored eyes". She leaves without explanation, asking Quinn to take care of the child until she is able to return. Faced with this overwhelming responsibility, Quinn finds herself drawn to the child she calls Lucy and the circumstances of her birth. Hiding a child proves to be impossible, and it's not long before Lucy's existence becomes known to husband, Walker, and her widowed mother, Liz, who prides herself in being the perfect party hostess in this quiet Minnesota town. Her life as a social icon, however, is about to be change as she faces demons that have haunted her for years.

The reader soon learns about what it was like for two sisters growing up in the Sanford household, the secrets their mother struggles never to reveal, and the high-school friend who goes to any lengths to protect a child from harm. The plot slowly simmers chapter by chapter, page by page, leaving the reader ensconced in an absorbing mystery.

Flawed characters, exquisitely defined by love, ultimately find truth in a story so many mothers will embrace.