Our Souls at Night, By Kent Haruf

What a beautiful tale. In Holt Colorado, where Addie Moore and Louis Waters live, their lives intersect in an unconventional and thought provoking way. They are both widowed and have known each other for decades. Its a small and insular community, where the topics of conversation are politics and religion.
Its a deeply moving, and profound statement on the power of affection and kindness, which transforms into an intimate friendship that impacts both their lives. Its a complicated story, told frankly, mostly through dialogue and folksy language, you feel as though you are with them in the diner, eating apple pie.

But it also describes the plight of small town living, the towns people whisper and snicker behind their back. As they both reflect on their lives, and share regrets and  pain of losing their spouses, they are also painfully aware of the inevitable, the thought of dying alone.

"After dark one night they walked over to the grade school playground and Louis pushed Addie on the big chain swing and she rode up and back in the cool fresh night air of late summer with the hem of her skirt fluttering over her knees. Afterward they went back to bed in her upstairs front room and they lay beside each other naked in the summer air coming in from the open windows."

Kent Haruf is a master of sharing life in small town America. He writes descriptively and beautifully, with unassuming humor and grace that takes you there, feeling "the summer air coming in from the open windows."

This book was published in 2015, after his death in 2014.

Other Books By Kent Haruf:

Eventide & Benediction 2004
Plainsong 1999
Where You Once Belonged 1990
The Tie that Binds 1984