What a delightful story!
I recently discovered this author. Her books are refreshing, clean, and easy with some profound depth to the plot and characters.
STORY SUMMARY
Lucille Howard, who now rents the house that Arthur Truluv lived in and now Maddy owns and rents out, is getting close to 90 years old. She's 88 but still quite active teaching baking lessons in her kitchen to younger women, children and sometimes even a man. Because her classes have become so popular in the little village of Mason, Missouri, she has just hired a new town resident to be her assistant. Iris doesn't really know how to bake but she is a divorced woman who has a big decision to make. This job will help her pay the bills as well as help her keep her mind off of her troubles. Iris is originally from Boston, and seems to be very sophisticated and snobbish, but in fact, is a very nice person who is always willing to help someone in need.
New neighbors move in next door to Lucille. Their names are Jason and Abby and they have a little boy named Lincoln who likes to be called Link. Abby has just been diagnosed with terminal cancer. It is a terrible tragedy and they need help so Lucille agrees to help care for Link when things get rough and Jason needs to be at the hospital more for Abby.
But they are not the only ones facing tough trials in the town. Many of the residents face uncertain futures and yet they all come together and find real strength in the power of community...where they learn there is always hope.
MY THOUGHTS
This book is a little gem. It takes place shortly after the novel The Story of Arthur Truluv which I reviewed here.
It was interesting to read about Maddy, the teen girl who is now a college student and single mom raising Nola, with Lucille's help at times and how far she has come as a person.
Lucille of course is a dearly loved character in both books and the way the author brings her to her life's completion is just beautiful. I don't want to spoil it for you but it is very much a typical Lucille character moment.
The book is filled with the hope and promise of good things to come without being at all sappy which I totally appreciate with this author. It's a "feel-good" story without being predictable.
The characters seem like people from any small town in the USA and they really become so life-like that you can't help but love them.
The main theme seems to be that the people we come to love are often the ones we don't expect to love.
There were a couple of great quotes that jumped out at me and I don't want to ruin it by telling you which character's voice it was:
"I'll tell you something...half of a good marriage is having someone love you for who you really are. You've got that already. The other half is both of you making a commitment to stay together not only at the altar but smack dab in the middle of every ugly fight....." (pg 251, Night of Miracles by Elizabeth Berg, c.2018)
and this one:
"Marriage is like weather...you take it day by day. You rejoice in the good days and get through the bad ones...." (pg 251, Night of Miracles by Elizabeth Berg, c.2018)
In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 14 and older.
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 10.
1 comment:
I have a couple of books by this author on my reading pile but have yet to read one by her. Maybe I'll move them up on the list. It sounds good.
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