It took my a little bit to get into this book; but once I did, it was pretty cute. It shows the unlikely relationship between different people and how they come to depend on and care for each other.

Very sweet story featuring my favorite trope--found family.

This is the tale of Arthur, who is an 85-year-old widower. He takes his lunch to the cemetery each day to visit his wife Nola's grave. One day he meets Maddy, a seventeen-year-old high school senior who is largely disliked and bullied by her classmates so she comes to the cemetery on her lunch hour. Arthur's next-door neighbor is Lucille, who is retired and has never been married. She and Arthur are friends, Lucille loves to bake and makes Arthur all types of treats. This book is about how the three forge friendships with each other in the midst of various trials and twists of life.

In classic Elizabeth Berg fashion, this book is told in a "slices of life" way. Things move forward without giving us every detail along the way. Occasionally this doesn't work for me and I want to know more about what happened, but most of the time, I appreciate this style because it doesn't bog down with unnecessary things, it just travels forward.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by the author and I loved how she infused humor in the story and let us experience that through her vocal changes. Lucille's chapters are so funny and touching at the same time, as her thoughts jump from one thing to the next and she travels from point A to point Z lightning fast and then loops around to the rest.

I really loved Arthur and the relationships he developed with the others. In fact, the two elderly characters were my favorites, I didn't think Maddy was as well developed or realistic, but thought she offered some balance to the others.

I'm really glad I finally took the time to read this sweet book. I am very interested to read the others in the series now.

"A beautiful, life-affirming novel about a remarkably loving man who creates for himself and others second chances at happiness."

I absolutely loved this book and fell in love with Arthur and the Author Elizabeth Berg for creating him and bringing him to life through the pages of this book.

When he meets Maddy in the cemetery a beautiful friendship develops and together, with his neighbour Lucille, they are able to create a loving home for the three of them, who all need a family, however unconventional, and to feel loved, cared for and a part of something bigger than themselves.

A novel about three emotionally damaged individuals who find each other and create their own version of a family, this book is reminiscent of the movie "As Good as it Gets." Written as total stream of consciousness and bouncing back and forth from one character to another, it's an interesting story but be prepared to be depressed, since the topics of cemeteries, death, aging and loss are consistent throughout the book. Sure, it's uplifting at the end, but I'm not sure that's enough to counteract all the depressing stuff.

This is a really sweet novel. These days there are tons of novel about the friendship between the old and young people (no offense meant here, just that I recognize a trend), but not all of them work. This one works for me, as I find the sweetness and care about each other being genuine. Also, the older people here feel real; and the message that everyone has a lot to offer in any age is simply true.

Troubled teenager Maddy and newly widowed eighty-something Arthur first met at the cemetery, their own loneliness being a starting point of why to talk to each other. But then they start to rely on each other - and they start to care about each other. Maddy needs a father/grandfather figure and Arthur needs a purpose. A third to the party is Arthur's neighbour Lucille, who, burdened by her own painful loss, needs a person/place where she can offer her (a kind of nosy, but honest) love and cakes.
These three are here to create a family without the ties of blood, but do not they say that the friends are the family we create?

And yes, they are.

A great book with great characters. I really enjoyed reading! Sweet story about love and grief, and healing. Charming and some what predictable at times.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for this reader's copy. In exchange, I am providing an honest review.

Elizabeth Berg is another author that has been on my TBR for a long time. This was a good book to dip my toes into the Berg waters with.

Arthur visits his wife every day for lunch. Recently there's been someone else hanging around the cemetery as well. A teen girl who Arthur sometimes waves at. She hasn't said anything to him and he's concerned she's afraid of him. But Maddy isn't afraid of Arthur, she's just caught up in her own life, and being among the residents of the cemetery gives her some peace. Through several small circumstances, Maddy and Arthur become close and Arthur's neighbor, Lucille, wiggles her way into their lives. The three of them lost and alone, join together to forge a way forward.

It's a warm, fuzzy feeling story. And that's not a criticism. I am a firm believer that we need stories that warm our hearts and make us think a little. Berg's story does this. Arthur is loveable, Lucille makes me roll my eyes in the best ways possible, and Maddy pulls at my Mama heartstrings. I'm a sucker for stories where the elderly and the young meet and forge relationships and are open to learning from one another. Berg's writing is simple and straightforward and lovely. She doesn't need to use the $5 words to tell a wonderfully warm story.

This book is about Arthur (an older widower), Maddy (a troubled teenage girl), and Lucille (Arthur's nosey neighbor). The three of them form an unconventional bond that starts at the cemetary where Arthur hangs out every day to talk to his deceased wife. The characters are likable and the way that they help each other overcome things is heartwarming. Elizabeth Berg has written another enjoyable book!

A beautiful friendship occurs between the older Arthur and 18 year old Maddie when they meet in a cemetery
The addition of Lucille makes the trio into a wonderful family by choice. .

Well it seems like reading about multi-generational friendships, mature characters, and death seem to be some of my favourite reads this year. I don't know why it took me so long to pick up The Story of Arthur Truluv, but I sure am glad that I did. Arthur Moses is a widower who lives by himself. Each day he heads to the cemetery to have lunch with his wife, Nola. She has been gone for six months and he misses her terribly. He meets a young woman named Maddy. Maddy lives with her father, her mother was killed in a car accident two weeks after she was born. Maddy is different from other girls her age and she is bullied. She has no friends and would rather hide out at the cemetery than go to school. She is also carrying on a sexual relationship with an older man, who is just using her, even though she thinks it is more. They bond and become great friends. It is Maddy who names him Truluv for his kind and loving nature. The third character is Lucille. She is Arthur's nosey neighbour who recently met up with her first love and right after they got engaged, he dies of a heart attack. These three lonely souls, form a kind of family that made for a wonderful story.

This is a sweet and simply told story. I loved the characters and empathized with them. Friendship played a huge role, but there are also themes of loneliness, grief, bullying, belonging, family and acceptance. I don't want to give away any of this story, so I will tell you that you need to experience this one for yourself. This is one of those feel good books, with great characters who have issues and baggage and how an honest, open, and caring friendship can save someone. This is one I enjoyed very much and am ready to read the second in the trilogy, Night of Miracles.

I took a chance on this book because it's not my normal fare and in some ways I made a great choice, in others not so much. The premise was fantastic and I couldn't wait to read it. Throughout the story the ideas of community, connectedness, support, and self-worth were all there and poignant when they got it right. I was glad for the tiny gems contained therein.

But it was a hunt, for sure, to find them. There were quite a few issues with the characters themselves, not just their problems in the story itself, but in how they were developed...meaning they kind of weren't. They were surface-level characters with drama and trauma to give them interest rather than depth.

So while the story didn't work for me as it did with a ton of great reviewers, it wasn't all bad and the moral of the story is where it shone.

A sweet, lovable, inspiring story of three misfit characters finding harmony and comfort as their lives intertwine. I really enjoyed this book. Thank you NetGalley for the copy for review. All options are my own.

I loved this book Arthur Truluv is such a lovable character. It is a moving story about love, grief, and healing. Heartbroken Arthur visits his wife's grave every day. Eighteen-year-old, Maddy Harris hangs out in the cemetery because it's the only place she feels comfortable. Unhappy at home with a distant father still grieving the death of his wife eighteen years before, she becomes infatuated with a local boy who treats her like a jerk.
Lucille, Arthur's nosy neighbor reconnects with her long-lost high school love and appears to be heading for the altar, despite her advanced age. Each of the characters is alone, isolated by their losses, yet find themselves making an improbable trio. They learn that there are all types of families, that very often don't need to be connected by blood. Sometimes the bonds you choose are stronger and more supportive than the ones connected by blood.

The Story of Arthur Truluv is hard to dislike. Well, I did love a Man Called Ove, so it's not really surprising that I would like this book, but it is just a delightful book. The characters find each other when they really need it, and friendships that come together regardless of age and circumstance are often the best kind.

What a beautifully written tale about three people who made a family for themselves when they needed one.

I fell in love with The Story of Arthur Truluv. The characters are real and oh so human. An elderly man, an elderly woman and a young girl, all in pain. How they come together and learn to appreciate and understand each other's quirks and trials makes for a good story. I cried at the end. That says it all. :)

This book is one that will engage you and have you run the gamut of emotions. The main character, Arthur, is an elderly gentleman who has lost his wife and spends his time visiting his wife’s grave in the cemetery. He befriends an 18-year old girl who is also visiting the cemetery regularly; trying to escape her home where her father is still grieving the loss of his wife eighteen years earlier. Arthur also befriends his lonely neighbor, Lucille.

A sweet story; very realistic and reminds us of the ability to laugh and experience love and joy!

This is a wonderful, wonderful book! A 10-star book in a five-star world.
This heartwarming—but not sappy!—book by Elizabeth Berg is nourishment for the soul. It's a feel-good, but realistic, story. Considering the crazy days in which we now live, we need more novels like this.

Sorry, this one wasn't really for me. I still like Elizabeth Berg a lot! I'll still look for her next novel! But I thought this one kind of dragged and I never really got into it. Thanks for the ARC anyway.

Elizabeth Berg gives us a heart-retching, heartwarming story about how to survive, and finally thrive after the death of a loved one. All of us who are happily married (more or less) will experience what 82-year-old Arthur Truluv does - the loss of his beloved spouse. I think most of us fool ourselves into believing that we will be the fist to go and therefore, will not have to face the dark days that exist after such a death. But Berg does it again - takes us deep into a character's pain and then allows us to emerge from it with the character. all of her book give me a lot to think about and this was no exception.