This book was a big surprise to me. It turned out to be exactly what I wished The Extra Ordinary Life of Frank Derrick, Aged 81 would be. Also what I hoped The Unlikely Pilgrimmage of Harold Fry would feel like. It’s a simple story at the outset – it’s the story of Arthur Pepper, who is widowed. He misses his wife terribly and has frozen in a rigid routine that he uses to keep himself going now that she’s gone. One day he decides it’s time to be pragmatic and clear out her belongings so that they can go to someone who needs them. While he’s doing this, he discovers an expensive-looking charm bracelet amongst her things. It has several very different charms on it, and one of them has a telephone number on it. Curious, he can’t help but call it. And so begins a quest of sorts to discover where each charm came from, and, it turns out, that his wife had a whole vibrant and interesting life before she met him.
There were several things I loved about this. The first is the theme of grief and loss, and how hard it is to keep going. This is a theme that touches a few different characters in this book, and each is dealing with it as best they can. But all are suffering, mostly alone and quietly. As the book progresses, some of the characters start to develop or rekindle connections with other people in their lives, and reading it is kind of like watching a garden come back to life after a long, dark winter.
Another thing I loved is the fun adventure. Pepper hops from one improbable situation to another, each weirder than the last, and completely breaks out of the blank slate of a life he had been existing in. He meets people from whom he learns more about his wife’s past, but in doing so he also learns about himself and about other people – and how to begin caring for them.
I liked that this book is vibrant and colourful. When I was reading it the pictures in my head were bright and full of interesting details, and I love books that feel that way. And it’s full of great feelings. You get to feel the beginning of unexpected friendship. You get to feel re-connection happening between parents and children. You get to experience the feeling of living after a long time just existing. You get to experience the realization that there were people around you the whole time you were feeling completely alone. It’s fun, it’s exciting, it’s cosy and at times profound.
I didn’t expect to love this book, but in a way I did. It turned out to be exactly what I needed to find, and hit me right in the feels. I love stories where grumpy, sad people learn to open up and feel good things again. I love when older people, in particular, are given another chance at life. And I love when people learn how to let each other in. This book had all of these things, and then some other great elements sprinkled on top. A great one if you’re starting to feel a bit down from the change of seasons and really just want to put on some cosy clothes, grab a cup of tea and curl up under a fuzzy blanket to read something that will help you feel good for a few hours. I’m really glad to have discovered it.
In this poignant and sparkling debut, a lovable widower embarks on a life-changing adventure
Sixty-nine-year-old Arthur Pepper lives a simple life. He gets out of bed at precisely 7:30 a.m., just as he did when his wife, Miriam, was alive. He dresses in the same gray slacks and mustard sweater vest, waters his fern, Frederica, and heads out to his garden.
But on the one-year anniversary of Miriam’s death, something changes. Sorting through Miriam’s possessions, Arthur finds an exquisite gold charm bracelet he’s never seen before. What follows is a surprising and unforgettable odyssey that takes Arthur from London to Paris and as far as India in an epic quest to find out the truth about his wife’s secret life before they met–a journey that leads him to find hope, healing and self-discovery in the most unexpected places.
Featuring an unforgettable cast of characters with big hearts and irresistible flaws, The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper is a curiously charming debut and a joyous celebration of life’s infinite possibilities. – Goodreads
Book Title: The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper
Author: Phaedra Patrick
Series: No
Edition: Audiobook
Published By: MIRA/Audible
Released: January 29, 2016
Genre: Fiction, Loss, Personal Pilgrimmage, Love, Family
Pages: 331
Date Read: August 17-19, 2022
Rating: 7.5/10
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.92/5 (46,245 ratings)