Kent Haruf's final novel begins with a startling proposition: a 70-year-old widow approaches a widower who lives down the street in the small town of Holt, Colo., and asks whether he would "consider coming to my house sometimes to sleep with me." Though it's hardly a subtle opening, Haruf's not looking to shock or titillate. Instead, in a novel that shares with its predecessors Plainsong, Eventide and Benediction not only its setting, but also a meditative mood and acute sensitivity to character, Haruf has simply and effectively let us know we are in the hands of a master storyteller.
In the late-night conversations that ensue, Louis Waters and Addie Moore quietly exchange the stories of losses and regrets that have marred their lives. And yet, as Haruf portrays them here, they are good and generous people who understand why, in spite of these tragedies and disappointments, they must persevere.
Haruf's ability to evoke the people and atmosphere of Colorado's High Plains in a few well-chosen words of description or a brief scene remains undiminished. And the resolution of the novel's plot, with the pain it inflicts on characters readers have come to care about deeply, has all the hallmarks of emotional truth.
One has a sense reading this novel that, had he lived, Kent Haruf could have drawn from an inexhaustible well of material to continue producing beautiful Holt novels. That there will be no more enhances our appreciation of his talent and our gratitude for the gift of these unforgettable stories. --Harvey Freedenberg, attorney and freelance reviewer