“The Story of Arthur Truluv” by Elizabeth Berg

Every day at noon 85 year old Arthur Moses can be found in the same place – eating his lunch at his wife Nola’s grave. Arthur wouldn’t miss his daily visits to her for anything. He fills her in on his day to day happenings since she passed six months ago. Arthur misses Nola so very much. Maddy is a girl on the verge of adulthood whose home life is less than miserable and is on her way out of an unhealthy relationship. Maddy can’t wait to escape the hell that is High School. She has no friends, can’t go a day without someone tossing a disparaging comment her way and finds her only peace among the trees at the cemetery during her lunch breaks. This is where the unlikely duo meet for the first time, on one of their daily lunch trips. Arthur’s neighbor, Lucille, is a retired school teacher and is equally lonely. She keeps Arthur’s cookie jar full with her homemade baking. The three of them become an unlikely trio that prove that sometimes its the family that you create for yourself that ends up being the greatest blessing. Berg has written an absolutely heartwarming book. Some compare Arthur to Ove from Fredrick Backman’s book “A Man Called Ove” but I found Arthur to be much more of a genuinely caring soul right from the start. Nothing had to be chipped away for the reader to fall in love with his heart of gold. Add this one to your must read list. 

Pick up a copy of “The Story of Arthur Truluv” here.