The story is seemingly simple but actually
concerns many issues pertinent to mature readers. It is also sweet and
poignant. An elderly single man and single woman live next door to each other
in a fictional town called Holt, Colorado. They are both lonely having lost
their long-term partners. One day quite out of the blue Addie decides to change
her loneliness for companionship by asking her neighbour Louis if he will spend
the nights with her. It begins with friendship and slowly develops into a
loving relationship. Along the way they change the life of Addie’s young
grandson. However they live in a small town and gossip is their enemy. It ends
in tears and secrecy.
A small domestic drama but most enjoyable
seeing their friendship develop and how they are able to spread happiness
around for at least a short time.
One member likened the tale to a fairy
story with a dash of reality at the conclusion. The story is about dealing with
pain as we all must and then just get on with life.
Louis and Addie are aware their
relationship will cause problems but are not aware it seems that jealousy and
backstabbing behavior is so rife in the personalities of their family and
friends. Narrow mindedness and malicious
gossiping are still issues in the 21st century.
Addie Moore crumbles under the pressure of
her son’s criticism and values. Her health also suffers and her vulnerability
in body as well as mind is sad to see after being such a competent person. Her
son is more concerned with his inheritance than her welfare. The son has
seemingly good reasons for his behaviour but we were not convinced.
One member thought Addie and Louis were too
kind to her grandson, a little bit schmaltzy but others disagreed. They were
certainly very generous and kind in the amount of time they spent with him in
comparison to his parents. It was just what he needed. He blossomed under the
love and attention of the two devoted older people. Here Haruf is strongly
criticizing the younger generation’s lack of parenting skills in a quite bold
way. Haruf is also criticizing their concentration on money rather than the
more simple pleasures of life, such as camping and working in the shed.
It is difficult to make such a poignant
story out of simple pleasures but Haruf succeeds beautifully. One of the great
strengths is the sentence construction. They are very simple and there are no
qualifying clauses and phrases. A Minerva member loved the opening sentence –
such a simple beginning but it conveys so much – ‘And then there was the day
when Addie Moore made a call to Louis Waters.’ It delivers the names of the
characters and puts them in a setting immediately. We did comment that Haruf has written
numerous other books so he is an experienced writer with an obvious mastery for
words and plot. It could be likened in
its straightforwardness to the Australian writer Elizabeth Jolley and the
Englishman Ian McEwan.
Louis is a wonderful character who we all
liked – one member would like one in her life !
We noticed that Louis is quite hesitant about Addie’s proposal at first
– ‘what in the hell, he said’ (to himself). Addie discovers that she is not all
dried up despite her mature years but can still have fun and enjoy life. And
they give happy times to others such as the older neighbour as well as the
child.
After the climax, the end of the sleeping
arrangements, both Addie and Louis have regrets which is another reality check.
They were fond of one another and of their arrangements as it gave them so
much. It is a novel in which so much is
inferred – just enough to allow the reader’s imagination to take over.
The conclusion resulted in us discussing
some of these topics such as sleeping arrangements and ourselves and others. As
we age these ‘things’ matter more.
What a pity that Haruf didn’t live to know
that he wrote a perfect little gem of a book.
