Our Souls at Night: A novel

Kent Haruf

May 2015 · Sold by Vintage

About this ebook

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A spare yet eloquent, bittersweet yet inspiring story of a man and a woman who, in advanced age, come together to wrestle with the events of their lives and their hopes for the imminent future.

In the familiar setting of Holt, Colorado, home to all of Kent Haruf's inimitable fiction, Addie Moore pays an unexpected visit to a neighbor, Louis Waters.

Her husband died years ago, as did his wife, and in such a small town they naturally have known of each other for decades; in fact, Addie was quite fond of Louis's wife. His daughter lives hours away, her son even farther, and Addie and Louis have long been living alone in empty houses, the nights so terribly lonely, especially with no one to talk with. But maybe that could change?

As Addie and Louis come to know each other better--their pleasures and their difficulties--a beautiful story of second chances unfolds, making Our Souls at Night the perfect final installment to this beloved writer's enduring contribution to American literature.

Ratings and reviews

I loved that this was a mature love story; that is, the main characters are mature adults -- some might say ELDERLY!!! SHOCKING, right. But yes, kiddos, our capability for love doesn't end; it just changes modes. This was realistic, touched a chord; loneliness is a fact of elder life & the author tackles a subject long neglected. No happy endings, but neither are life endings & changes. The reactions of others --especially the adult children is where the real tragedy of this novel lies. Highly recommended for older readers with the spoiler alert caveat: no happy endings here!

I really liked this book until the end I really hated the way it ended,it could have been so much better.

cute story line but little depth. Should be sold as a short story not a novel.

About the author

KENT HARUF is the author of five previous novels (and, with the photographer Peter Brown, West of Last Chance). His honors include a Whiting Foundation Writers’ Award, the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Award, the Wallace Stegner Award, and a special citation from the PEN/Hemingway Foundation; he was also a finalist for the National Book Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the New Yorker Book Award. He died in November 2014, at the age of seventy-one.