Having been married for over 40 years, 69-year-old Arthur Pepper is mourning the loss of his wife. On the anniversary of her death, he finally musters the courage to go through her possessions, and happens upon a charm bracelet that he has never seen before.
What follows is a surprising adventure that takes Arthur from London to Paris and India in an epic quest to find out the truth about his wife’s secret life before they met, a journey that leads him to find healing, self-discovery, and love in the most unexpected of places.
My Review:
Every now and then I read a book that is different to my usual choice of fiction. The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper was an absolute joy.
It starts just before the first anniversary of his wife’s death and we learn how the decision to go through her belongings changes his life. Up until that point his life had consisted of going though his daily routine like clockwork. He never tries anything different, not even a different outfit or a different meal for his breakfast. He tends to his plant which he has named Frederica and goes out of his way to avoid his neighbour who insists on baking him pies and giving him self help leaflets.
When he finds the charm bracelet a whole new world opens its doors to him, that of his wife’s life before she met him. When he decides to look into the story of each charm he learns a lot. Some he finds comfort in but there are also things that he finds distressing.
I loved reading about his adventures, and how he learned to embrace what he had left in life. He had his family but he also realised that there were people he could build a friendship with. He accepted that even though there were parts of his wife’s past that he didn’t know about it didn’t affect the memory of their happy marriage.
If you liked Harold Fry you will love this, it’s perfect.
With thanks to the publisher for the copy received.
Steph's Book Blog 