Kent Haruf's last work OUR SOULS at NIGHT

OUR SOULS at NIGHT is aptly named.  The novel by award winning novelist Kent Haruf (PLAIN SONG) is being posthumously published. The title refers to liberating oneself from convention and pursuing our heart's desires.  Haruf wrote this tender love story knowing it would be the last novel he would complete before dying of cancer.  His simple, clear prose is perfect for the purity of the love that blossoms late in life for two septuagenarians; Addie & Louis.  We become attached to these warm individuals and empathize with their contemplative reckonings.  Addie gets the gumption to approach a neighbor whom she barely knows with an unusual proposal. ("People can do the unexpected.") Addie asks Louis to share her bed at night for a platonic, comforting companionship.  Louis though taken aback, admires her courage, honesty and her ability to live without concern for what others think.  "I don't want to live like that anymore-for other people, what they think, what they believe.  I don't think it's the way to live."   Louis agrees and their soul baring pillow talk leads to richer lives.  Still, there are nay sayers among family and local gossips.  Louis tells Addie "You have been good for me.  What more could anyone ask for?  I'm a better person than I was before we got together." I commend Haruf's charming and inspiring swan song.