Kent Haruf
In one sense, nothing much happens in Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf. In another sense, everything that is of any importance in life happens.
It is the story of two elderly people in search of companionship and love. They find each other when Addie More invites her neighbor Louis Waters to share her bed at night so neither one of them has to sleep alone. Their conversations at night are honest, touching, and devoid of artifice as they reveal the intimate details of their private lives. Their friendship develops into a genuine love, the kind of love that can come to two people in their twilight years who understand they don’t have to play games or pretend to be something they’re not or care any more about what the nay-sayers and gossips might think. Their connection is forged on the premise that the elderly are entitled to companionship and to the sharing of life’s simple pleasures.
This is another of Kent Haruf's gems--quietly told, gentle, heart-warming, delicate, and beautiful in its simplicity.