Holt, Colorado, is the setting for all of Kent Haruf’s novels. Addie Moore has lived alone for years in this small town, ever since her husband passed away. The solitude weighs on her, heavier with each passing day. One afternoon she makes an unexpected request of her neighbour, Louis Waters, himself a widower. Would he consider spending the nights together, simply as friends? To talk. To keep warm. Because the long, silent nights are the hardest part of her life. So begins a tender love story between two people who find one another late in life. It is shaped by memories and confidences, and by small, everyday gestures. A bond to be nurtured with care and defended with courage. Fighting against the prejudice of a small town in the American heartland, where judgement comes quickly and gossip travels fast. The final work of one of the finest American writers of recent decades, this short novel is written in Haruf’s unmistakable style: spare, direct, and quietly elegant. In just a few pages, he captures the intimacy and deep understanding between the two, as they share their dreams, hopes, fears and desires.

Our Souls at Night

Kent Haruf; translation by Fabio Cremonesi

NNE, 2017