If it hadn’t been for bookclub, I wouldn’t have picked up this book. After reading it, I will now have to find the movie as it stars Robert Redford and Jane Fonda and I heard it’s pretty good. I really enjoyed this book and, in the end, I felt sorry for both Addie and Louis yet, I think they were content with how things worked out.
The story takes place in a small town and like most small towns, everyone seems to know what everyone else is doing. Addie is 70, and she calls upon her neighbor Louis, one day at his home. She asks Louis if he would like to spend the night with her. Now, this is not grade school, these are adults whose spouses are deceased. Addie is straight-up and tells Louis that they’ll be no sex, but that she just wants someone to talk to and be close to at night. Well?
That night, Louis cleans himself up, puts his toothbrush and pajamas in a bag and walks down the alley to her house and knocks on the backdoor. They do live in a small town, remember? Addie had been waiting at the front door for Louis and tells him to ring at the front door in the future, she’s too old to worry about what people think. I love her already! Well, I won’t tell you what happened that first night but it was perfect. It made me smile.
It isn’t long before the town knows what’s happening and you can imagine what happens. It’s what Addie and Louie do about it, that matters to me. I thought they were getting comfortable in their arrangement when Addie’s young grandson came for a visit. Addie has conflicting thoughts now.
I enjoyed how the author wrote, the reading was effortless and realistic. A great book about family, aging and life in general. It made me think about getting older in life and if I would have done anything different had I been Addie or Louie.
One Chapter 