What a beautiful and sweet story of a life lived and loved.

A rather sweet little book

This was ok.
I was hoping for more Harold Fry and less Pandora's Box. I usually find great comfort and enjoyment with British domestic fiction and had expected the same from this but was disappointed.

The premise is delightful: Arthur Pepper's wife, Miriam, died a year ago and he's been grieving ever since. When a friendly neighbor convinces him to stop stagnating, Arthur decides it's time to clean out his wife's closet and in doing so, he finds a gold charm bracelet he doesn't remember seeing before. It's far fancier than what she would have worn, what with her frugality and lack of vanity. He sort of accidentally sets off to find out where the charms on the bracelet came from and in doing so, he discovers two things:
1) His wife had an amazing life before she met him, one she never told him about and
2) He can have an amazing life, too.

That sound pretty great, right? Mysterious bracelet with stories surrounding the charms, self-discovery, life after the death of a loved one, there was a lot here to pull me in.
When I turned 10, my mother gave me her charm bracelet and I lost it in middle school, during a gym class. I'd left it in the pocket of my velour/corduroy, cream and white paisley print pullover and when I put my clothes back on, the bracelet was gone, never to be seen again, which is terrible because all the charms on that bracelet had stories behind them. I always wonder what became of it so the idea of following Arthur as he discovered his wife's bracelet's mysteries was quite appealing. Also of interest is what old widowers do when they decide to stop sitting around, grieving. This is of particular importance to me because we're still trying to find ways to get our dad re-involved with life and we're failing horribly. I had hoped to get some ideas from this but that didn't pan out.

I may have had my hopes set too high going into this.

Unfortunately, this was not as enchanting or enlightening as I had hoped and the end left me with a sour aftertaste.

Spoiler

After finding out where all the charms came from, Arthur also finds out that his son knew about the bracelet and that it had come to hold sentimental significance in his life, so much so that the son and his daughters had bought a charm for the bracelet and had sent it to Miriam just weeks before she'd died. She'd soldered the charm on the bracelet herself and hid the whole thing away again. The stories Arthur uncovered made him realize his wife had been full of life and adventure prior to marrying him and he doesn't like knowing that. Not only does he not like having that information, he decides not to share all the charms' stories with his children. Worse, he comes into a set of letters Miriam had sent an old friend and when he's finished reading them, he tears them up so no one else can see them because he knew his wife better than anyone and decides she would have wanted her past kept quiet. And then he sells the charm bracelet, not even keeping the charm his son and granddaughters had sent. He didn't offer the bracelet to said son, who had an attachment to it (and who could have tracked down the same stories just like his father had, should he have been so inclined), he just takes it to a pawn shop and gets a bunch of money for it. He does actually keep one charm, the most monetarily valuable one, the one whose story he first uncovered. Then he gives some of his new wealth to a few of the people who had helped him on this journey and he spends the rest to take is own journey, which is fine but he did this at the expense of his wife, he effectively erased her full self and kept only his memories of her, sharing only tidbits with his children who would also only ever have their memories of her, never their mother's full story. It made me sad that some guy liked his abridged version of a woman best so intentionally deleted the original.

There were several elements that rubbed me the wrong way - the daughter's fantasy about getting married and having children and not being fulfilled until that happens, a flashback to Miriam telling Arthur she didn't want a birthday present so he didn't get her one and then she was mad and lectured him on how he should have gotten her a present to prove that he loved her and, after that flashback, Arthur uses that remembered lesson to understand that what a woman says isn't necessarily what she means. This is all BS and can we start getting rid of this kind of thinking? Please? Or at least frame it in a less flattering light?

All in all, I didn't enjoy Arthur's journey as much as I'd hoped to, I didn't find any clues on how to help my own dad get back into living, I wasn't as delighted with the charm's stories as I'd expected to be, and the resolution to the whole story rubbed me the wrong way.

Initially, I felt as if I had read this book before; depressed widower, unable to cope since the death of his spouse, makes a life changing decision-ultimately choosing life. Meh. So imagine my surprise when I found myself absolutely delighted by Arthur's enthusiasm as he embraced the mystery behind one of his wife's keepsakes, discovered hidden in a shoe. His search led to new acquaintances, both near and far ( human and animal), telephone calls and travels, and even a new wardrobe! Most importantly, Arthur found the man his wife always knew he was and loved and the ability to once again be a parent to his children.

I purchased this book as a Kindle Deal, a bit intrigued by the enchanting title and premise. Arthur Pepper discovers a charm bracelet in his Kate wife’s belongings, thus beginning a journey of revelation and self-discovery. I finished this book in 24 hours, so it’s a very easy read. It has touching and heart-warming moments and will leave you with a good feeling and a smile. As enjoyable as it was, it all unfolds as a bit too pat, straight forward and easy. Arthur’s development as a character is not complex - it’s all too simple. As he discovers the meaning behind the Charms, each person manages to have some type of connection to the next person - all revealed through very long dialogues and speeches - making it somewhat predictable and easy. It’s almost like there are no serious consequences for anyone that he meets, and most of the characters are unique, but one dimensional and interchangeable. This isn’t a very complex story, but still enjoyable. It may resonate with you, but probably not too deeply.

A little sappy but charming, it's nice to read a feel-good book now and then. I was rooting for Arthur to find peace and was not disappointed!

2.5

I liked the idea, and the writing style. Unfortunately I really did not like where the idea went. It was a quick easy read though.