The feel-good book of the year: a delightful novel of friendship, community, and the way small acts of kindness can change your life, by the bestselling author of The Story of Arthur Truluv Lucille Howard is getting on in years, but she stays busy. Thanks to the inspiration of her dearly departed friend Arthur Truluv, she has begun to teach baking classes, sharing the secrets to her delicious … secrets to her delicious classic Southern yellow cake, the perfect pinwheel cookies, and other sweet essentials. Her classes have become so popular that she’s hired Iris, a new resident of Mason, Missouri, as an assistant. Iris doesn’t know how to bake but she needs to keep her mind off a big decision she sorely regrets.
When a new family moves in next door and tragedy strikes, Lucille begins to look out for Lincoln, their son. Lincoln’s parents aren’t the only ones in town facing hard choices and uncertain futures. In these difficult times, the residents of Mason come together and find the true power of community—just when they need it the most.
“Elizabeth Berg’s characters jump right off the page and into your heart” said Fannie Flagg about The Story of Arthur Truluv. The same could be said about Night of Miracles, a heartwarming novel that reminds us that the people we come to love are often the ones we don’t expect.
Praise for Night of Miracles
“Happy, sad, sweet and slyly funny, [Night of Miracles] celebrates the nourishing comfort of community and provides a delightfully original take on the cycles of life.”—People (Book of the Week)
“Find refuge in Mason, a place blessedly free of the political chaos we now know as ‘real life.’ In Berg’s charming but far from shallow alternative reality, the focus is on the things that make life worth living: the human connections that light the way through the dark of aging, bereavement, illness and our own mistakes. . . . As the endearing, odd-lot characters of Mason, Missouri, coalesce into new families, dessert is served: a plateful of chocolate-and-vanilla pinwheel cookies for the soul.”—USA Today
“Full of empathy and charm, every chapter infuses the heart with a renewed sense of hope.” —Woman’s World
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A whimsical followup to Arthur Truluv. I hadn’t intended to read this sequel, but it appeared in my library queue as an audiobook and turned out to be quite enjoyable and fairly short. It’s about a small town with quirky residents and their friendships, hopes and sorrows. Some of the characters are familiar, some are new. If you enjoyed Arthur Truluv, you will want to read Night of Miracles also.
I just loved this book! Elizabeth Berg is one of my favorite authors and this book did not disappoint at all. Each chapter is about a different character in the story and it was so well written that it just flowed. The characters are very real and their lives are all connected in one way or another. This lovely heart warming story stays with you for awhile after you’ve finished the book. Strongly recommend.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for a review copy. This is my honest opinion.
I have loved all of Elizabeth Berg’s books that I’ve read. Her characters become your family or friends. When I finished the book I told my husband I wanted to cry, not because it was sad but because I felt like I was losing my best friends
This book is a sequel to The Story of Arthur Truluv with the same characters and the same enjoyable story line. The characters were interesting and relatable and
I enjoyed the continuation of their stories.
Night of Miracles by Elizabeth Berg revisits characters from The Story of Arthur Truluv. I enjoyed Truluv very much and looked forward to this novel.
In Truluv, the elderly Arthur mourns his wife but carries on by investing in others, a truly loving man who rescues a lonely teenager and befriends a cantankerous neighbor lady, Lucille. Arthur dies but leaves his home to the teenager, who rents it to Lucille who, thanks to Arthur’s encouragement, is teaching baking classes.
The family who moves into Lucille’s old house is dealing with a health crisis and Lucille helps care for their son. She hires an assistant who has just left an unhappy marriage. And meantime, Tiny and Monica are carrying torches for each other at the local cafe’ but are unable to work up the courage to say anything.
As much as I enjoyed Truluv, I was not captivated by Miracle.
Early on, I was confused by too many characters, introduced in their separate stories. There was way too much space spent on the baking of cakes–meanwhile, the would-be lovers worry about weight and food. First I was craving a lush moist cake or snickerdoodles then I was reminded I am on a diet. I was not taken by the miraculous ending. Not my kind of book at all. Way too much sugar. But if you love It’s a Wonderful Life, dive right in. This is your book! Too much reality isn’t good for us anyway.
I received a free ebook from the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
Very predictable and just like the book before it… Boring
The thing about an Elizabeth Berg novel is, it’ll always make you feel hopeful. True to form, Night of Miracles is wise and funny, not shying away from life’s troubles but spotlighting the shining small miracles and pleasures of ordinary days. And, of course, there are delicious cakes.
This is the first time that I’m really having a problem writing review. I just didn’t know where to start. When I finished the book I felt good. The story took me on a roller coaster ride of emotions.
Elizabeth Berg has written a wonderful cast of characters. Each character contributes to the strength and warmth of this story. It demonstrates the “whirligig” ride that is life.
I highly recommend this book to everyone. Thank you #Elizabeth Berg for writing this book. I am so glad I won this book in a giveaway. #PenguinRandomHouse.
The opinions expressed are solely my own.
Night of Miracles by Elizabeth Berg was a bit harder to get into than its predecessor due to the large cast of characters. After the characters have been introduced, Ms. Berg charms her readers with a heartwarming small town story of friendship and love.
We first meet Lucille in Arthur Truluv. I thought night of miracles might pick up at that story’s end, but it starts many years later, basically at Lucille’s end. She has led a long, productive life, and while she might be rather brusque at times, her {late} neighbor, Arthur, taught her to open up and be more giving. In Night of Miracles, readers see how much fuller Lucille’s life became when she did open herself to up to friendly relationships with neighbors and other new experiences.
Night of Miracles is told through multiple storylines that read like vignettes about many of Manson, Missouri’s inhabitants. Eventually, Ms. Berg ties each of the town folks’ stories together by revealing Lucille’s influence on their lives.
The highly sentimental end had me smiling through my tears. Night of Miracles is a lovely sequel to the author’s The Story of Arthur Truluv.
What an enjoyable read! I loved the characters: Lucille in her sunset years, Iris a divorcée in her forties, Tiny and Monica, Jason, Abby, and their young son Lincoln, Maddy and her young daughter Nola. All of them were dealing with the struggles of life: looking for romantic love, dealing with illness, resolving failed love, learning to accept the end of life. The small town atmosphere of Mason, Missouri adds a somewhat humorous setting for the story and how the characters become connected to each other. Throw in a tiny bit of supernatural, and the story comes to a sweet resolution that leaves the reader with a smile and a sigh.
#Night of Miracles #NetGalley
I loved The Story of Arthur Truluv and its characters so I was very excited to read Night of Miracles, which includes characters from Story of Arthur Truluv, Lucille, Maddy and Nola, and introduces us to some wonderful new characters that I ended up loving just as much. The story focuses mainly on Lucille and her new business teaching baking classes in her home, but we get to know the new people who come into her life. My new favorite characters from this book are Tiny and Iris, both real, honest and giving people. I found myself chuckling at times, smiling and touched by the caring ways of many of the characters, and there were also some tears shed. This is such a heartwarming and beautiful story of friendship, thoughtfulness, a community coming together, love and loss. I absolutely adored everything about this book. It is indeed a delightful read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the advance copy of this book.
In Night of Miracles, I was transported back to the wonderful world of Arthur Truluv and the people he came to love as family, Lucille and Maddy. As the two of them go on with their lives, they are blessed by the miracles around them. They have each grown and embraced the life that they discovered when the three of them became friends.
Night of Miracles centers on Lucille and we watch as she discover the miracles of her life. But there is really only one miracle that she wants and waits for. Will she finally get her miracle?
I have always loved Elizabeth’s gentle, beautiful stories, stories that seem to teach us a lesson, and this series is one of my favorites. I love the characters and love that we get to follow their lives through multiple books. And as expected when I pick up one of her books, the words are put together in such a lovely, flowing way that it’s such a joy to read. I look forward to reading more stories in this series.
“Night of Miracles” by Elizabeth Berg
I really liked this contemporary mid-west small town story. I was one of the lucky ones who received an invitation from the publisher to download an ARC of this story via NetGalley. I rather fell in love with Mason, MO and the characters that lived in this story… I would so love to be able to take a baking class with Lucille.. meet Iris, Tiny, Monica, and everyone else. I do love small towns and the way people caringly support each other. My big problem … the story was over before I was ready.. and I never did get any of the recipes that sounded so very delicious. But that is just as well, I am trying not to gain weight !
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.
Don’t worry if you haven’t read Arthur Truluv #1 as I didn’t either. This book really does stand on its own. It a great chick lit book, full of heartwarming friendships, eternal love and a necklace made of stars.
In the small town of Madison, no-nonsense Lucille is a retired elementary school teacher who now teaches baking classes in her home. Jason, Abby and their son Lincoln move next door, and an unexpected friendship is in the works when Abby falls gravely ill and Lucille helps out by watching Lincoln. I almost quit reading as I really just wasn’t in the mood for sadness. Thankfully, I didn’t stop. This is the story of a community that pulls together, with all its mismatched relationships between family, friends and coworkers. The writing is excellent, such fluid dialog. The characters are people you truly like, and would like to spend time with. It’s just a feel good book that will bring a smile to your face, as well as an out loud laugh along the way.
As Lucille says, life is a Whirligig that jerks you here, there, everywhere. One minute you’re going forward, the next backward or sideways or tilted over so far you think you might fall out. That’s life. A ride on the Whirligig. And sometimes it gives you a miracle or two, like a necklace of stars.
Going back to Mason, Missouri and Lucille was like going home. After reading The Story of Arthur Truluv , I was so hoping for another book with these amazing characters. Lucille is still teaching her baking class and hires newcomer Iris to help her. We also meet Jason, his wife Abby, and their son Lincoln. As Lucille is living in Arthur’s house, they buy Lucille’s house. Maddy and Nola visit as well. This is a wonderful story with amazing characters. I received an advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Random House. All opinions are my own.
Wonderful book, follow up to The Story of Arthur Truluv.
Elizabeth Berg writes books about real people with real issues with real solutions involving people of all ages that we can relate to. Beautiful book about a lovely elderly woman who we met in her last novel Arthur Truluv; her new neighbors with a super awesome kid and going through a family crisis, a new arrival in the small town of Mason who finds a new life for herself after her divorce; a fat man named Tiny who thinks he needs to lose weight to get the woman of his dreams and several other great characters you can’t help but love. Thoroughly enjoyed another great read by this author! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC
An appealing easy to read novel. It shows the advantages to living in a quiet small town. There are many characters, each with a personal story. Somehow through circumstances they become connected. The beauty of neighborliness, of generosity, of concern and love shines forth as they deal with each other.
A ninety three year old woman. still active and involved; a young couple facing together her serious illness, a shy waitress and a bashful truck driver; a recently divorced woman trying to adjust to a new life;a single mother with a precious daughter- these are the very ordinary people coming together in this beautiful story. Yet, They touch at the heart strings and even evoke a bit of nostalgia (if you grew up in such an environment).Be prepared for a very sweet surprise ending which really explains the title.
A definite uplifting book that will make you smile!