The story of Arthur Truluv: a novel
By Elizabeth Berg
Introduction by Librarian
"The Story of Arthur Truluv" is a warm and affirmative story from the New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Berg. It tells about the process of self-discovery, human connectivity and friendship. An old man, Arthur Moses, a lonely old man whose wife passes away, meets a teenage girl, Maddy Harris, who tries to escape from class bully and family fragmentation. The two lonely souls first meet in the cemetery. They treat each other with tenderness and empathy because of the same sense of loss.
The story then further describes the connection of the Arthur and Maddy with the surrounding people, i.e. Arthur’s neighbor Lucille, Maddy’s father and ex-boyfriend Anderson. Both Arthur and Maddy embark on a journey in creation of a loving and unconventional family with surprising results.
The story illustrates the importance of human interactions and relations. Friendship forms as a shelter for peace of mind regardless of different age and background of individuals. The social ties help people to cope with stress and major changes of life and to avoid social isolation and depression. People can interfere with each other. They meet by fate and walk into each other’s lives and steer them into new directions, just like the connection between Arthur and Maddy, Arthur and Lucille, Maddy and Lucille with the people surrounding them in the novel.