“I dare you to read this novel and not fall in love with Arthur Truluv. His story will make you laugh and cry, and will show you a love that never ends, and what it means to be truly human.”—Fannie FlaggAn emotionally powerful novel about three people who each lose the one they love most, only to find second chances where they least expect them“Fans of Meg Wolitzer, Emma Straub, or [Elizabeth] … Wolitzer, Emma Straub, or [Elizabeth] Berg’s previous novels will appreciate the richly complex characters and clear prose. Redemptive without being maudlin, this story of two misfits lucky to have found one another will tug at readers’ heartstrings.”—Booklist
For the past six months, Arthur Moses’s days have looked the same: He tends to his rose garden and to Gordon, his cat, then rides the bus to the cemetery to visit his beloved late wife for lunch. The last thing Arthur would imagine is for one unlikely encounter to utterly transform his life.
Eighteen-year-old Maddy Harris is an introspective girl who visits the cemetery to escape the other kids at school. One afternoon she joins Arthur—a gesture that begins a surprising friendship between two lonely souls. Moved by Arthur’s kindness and devotion, Maddy gives him the nickname “Truluv.” As Arthur’s neighbor Lucille moves into their orbit, the unlikely trio band together and, through heartache and hardships, help one another rediscover their own potential to start anew.
Wonderfully written and full of profound observations about life, The Story of Arthur Truluv is a beautiful and moving novel of compassion in the face of loss, of the small acts that turn friends into family, and of the possibilities to achieve happiness at any age.
Praise for The Story of Arthur Truluv
“For several days after [finishing The Story of Arthur Truluv], I felt lifted by it, and I found myself telling friends, also feeling overwhelmed by 2017, about the book. Read this, I said, it will offer some balance to all that has happened, and it is a welcome reminder we’re all neighbors here.”—Chicago Tribune
“Not since Paul Zindel’s classic The Pigman have we seen such a unique bond between people who might not look twice at each other in real life. This small, mighty novel offers proof that they should.”—People, Book of the Week
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Loved the story line…generations build on trust, love, and kindness in each other.
Loved it!
Easy read with really memorable characters. Arthur is wonderful.
A wonderful feelgood story.
This is a feel-good kind of book. The main characters are very good people who treat each other with understanding and kindness. You can read along without any worry that things are going to work out okay. I wouldn’t want my entire book-reading diet to be this kind of book, but it’s great when reading for relaxation.
Classic Elizabeth Berg, filled with quirky, vulnerable characters in heart-tugging and heartwarming situations.
Sweet, sweet character in Arthur Truluv. If only…
I read approximately 50-100 books per year, and I teach a course at Cornell University called “Six Pretty Good Books”. This is one of the best books I have read in several years! Each of the characters is realistic, compelling, and psychologically coherent. I look forward to reading more of Berg’s work. A true delight.
I loved this book and have been reading more books by this author.
Loved this book!
I absolutely loved this book! About an 85-year-old widower and the troubled 18-year-old pregnant girl he befriends, it was short in length but huge in emotional impact. It made me laugh and it made me cry and was one of the best books of its genre that I’ve read in a long time.
Elizabeth Berg’s The Story of Arthur Truluv is a sweet enough story. The elderly, recently-widowed Arthur meets lonely, teenaged Maddy at the cemetery where he eats lunch with his late wife and she escapes the bullying and tedium of high school. Perhaps improbably, they forge a friendship, first with one another and then – individually and jointly – with Lucille, Arthur’s equally-elderly neighbor. All of them are grappling with grief and with change, and loss is an elemental part of the story and their relationships with one another
Overall, I liked the story, although I am growing a bit weary of the genre. Glancing through reviews on Amazon, it’s clear I’m not the only one who sees similarities with Ove, Hendrik Groen, and that other widower Arthur, Mr. Pepper. Too, I was bothered by the timing of the closing chapters; I simply couldn’t make the dates add up in a way that made sense and seemed true to the rest of the story.
I was especially fond of Arthur, though, as well as his neighbor Lucille. On more than one occasion I was reminded of my great-grandfather, a widower who lived around the corner from his brother’s widow, but would only rarely visit with her lest the neighbors notice. I am grateful for any book that offers an opportunity to reminisce about my grandfather, but such sentimentality can only take me so far.
(This review was originally published at http://www.thisyearinbooks.com/2018/11/the-story-of-arthur-truluv.html)
This is a hard book to explain but very good and easy to read. Characters you care about and inspirational. This is a bit of a different genre than I usually read and am so glad I took a chance on this one.
I fell in love with this book. Coming off of a “nothing worth reading” Jag, I picked up this book to see if it could jar me out of my malaise. It did! For sure! What a wonderful story. I began reading in the evening while my husband listened to the incessant bad news and didn’t stop until 4 am. Then, I went to sleep, woke up an hour later, got up, put on the coffee and finished it in the living room. I just couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next. Wonderful story, wonderful characters, not my usual genre, but worth every minute I spent with these characters. A true testament to the human spirit, the acceptance of life’s errors, and overcoming adversity. What a great read. Just LOVED this book. Am sharing it with my many book clubs!
The characters mostly, and it was inspirational and heart felt story.
Nice easy read.
This was an enjoyable read!
Very enjoyable by one of my favorite authors. Need more books like this.
A good read.
Loved the characters, very believable. Showed human frailty and profound kindness.