4.5

Such a sweet read! Loved the main character Arthur and his adventures. (I wish something else would have happened to the bracelet and elephant charm but don't want to give spoilers.)

There is a growing trend of books that are about the boomer crowd.* I have nothing against this, they are a good portion of readers, after all. And it's not like life stops once you hit 40. Nor is it fair to ignore the traumas of losing a spouse, etc.

However, there is also a trend to create books about that crowd that are designed to make them feel young again. I'm sure when I'm older I'll understand why. But at this moment I don't. And, if my experience with the older generation is worth anything, most of the ones I know wouldn't behave (or drop inappropriate/private information) like Arthur Pepper.

It felt, in the bit I read, like a copy of something. The characters lacked depth. I flipped through the pages... saw enough I didn't care for to know I didn't want to read it... and gave up.

*[b:A Man Called Ove|18774964|A Man Called Ove|Fredrik Backman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1405259930l/18774964._SY75_.jpg|21619954], [b:Major Pettigrew's Last Stand|6643090|Major Pettigrew's Last Stand|Helen Simonson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320539020l/6643090._SX50_.jpg|6837577], etc.

I received an ARC for this book through a Goodreads Giveaway (I highly recommend them-- I've won several!)

Arthur Pepper is a widower who sticks to his routines and leads a simple life after his wife's death. His relationships with his children are distant, and he likes to keep to himself.
On the one-year anniversary of her death, he decides to go through their closets and clear out her things. He comes across a pair of boots and reaches inside to find a little jewelry box with a charm bracelet inside.
He's curious to know what the sentimental purpose is behind each charm and decides to do his investigating. Each charm tends to lead a clue to the next. You get to follow Arthur not only on his journey to find out who his wife was before they met, but also on his road to healing the relationships with his grown children.
This is a beautifully written and "charming" story. :) I give it 3.5 stars because it was cute and overall a pretty interesting story... I just found it predictable and, because of that, a wee bit lackluster.
I would recommend this as a solid "cleanser" book after reading something heavy.

3.5 stars. An easy read that helps you see the importance of living in the present and not dwelling on the past.

What a charming book. There were parts of the book that were a bit hard to believe. The last 10% of the book changed my 4⭐️ to a 5⭐️.

If I read one more story about a little old white man on a quest to various places meeting a cast of eccentric characters as he discovers who he is in the last season of his life, I'm going to scream. This book was about 30 page too long, each of the last 3 chapters could have feasibly been the end of the story, instead it dragged out a story that was already done...it did have its moments though...