Reading Order
Our Souls at Night Reading Order
Our Souls at Night (2015) by Kent Haruf is his final novel, published the year he died, and it is one of the most luminous and moving works in contemporary American fiction — the story of Addie Moore and Louis Waters, two old widowed neighbors in Holt, Colorado, who have lived across the street from each other for decades without being close friends. Addie comes to Louis with a proposition: she is lonely, she says, and she wonders if he would come over at night and sleep in her bed, so that she wouldn't be alone in the dark. The novel traces their unlikely intimacy, the response of their families and community, and the question of whether two old people can find something new and real at the end of their lives. Our Souls at Night is very short — under 200 pages — and it reads in a single sitting. Haruf wrote it while dying of pulmonary fibrosis, and the novel has the quality of something made by a person who knows they don't have much time and has dispensed with everything unnecessary. It is his most direct and least ornamented work, and it is the perfect coda to his career — a quiet, specific, genuine portrait of two people choosing to be alive together in the time they have left.
Where to start
Our Souls at Night — any Vintage paperback. Short, reads in one sitting, can be read independently of the other Holt novels (though readers who know the Holt world will have added resonance). Best as a coda after reading Plainsong.
Complete Our Souls at Night Book List
- 1Buy
Our Souls at Night
Kent Haruf·2015·The novel — Addie Moore and Louis Waters in Holt, Colorado; two old widowed neighbors choosing each other in the time they have left; Haruf's final novel, written while dying, and the luminous coda to his career. - 2Buy
Plainsong
Kent Haruf·1999·The essential companion — the entry to the Holt world; reading Plainsong before Our Souls at Night adds resonance to the Holt setting and its community of old characters. - 3Buy
Eventide
Kent Haruf·2004·The Holt sequel — the McPheron brothers' later years; the companion in the Holt world and the second installment of the trilogy. - 4Buy
Benediction
Kent Haruf·2013·The third Holt novel — Dad Lewis dying in Holt; thematically the closest companion to Our Souls at Night, both novels concerned with mortality and what remains possible at the end of a life. - 5Buy
The Tie That Binds
Kent Haruf·1984·Haruf's debut novel — the early Colorado plains fiction; the companion in his full career arc, showing how far his spare prose style developed from the debut. - 6Buy
Gilead
Marilynne Robinson·2004·Robinson's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel — the most important literary companion; John Ames writing his letter to his young son while dying in Gilead, Iowa is the companion in American fiction about old age, mortality, and what one can pass on before death. - 7Buy
A Man Called Ove
Fredrik Backman·2012·Backman's bestselling novel — the Swedish companion in fiction about old people who are not yet done with life; Ove's recovery of his will to live through community is the Swedish, comic version of what Addie and Louis's recovery represents. - 8Buy
The Remains of the Day
Kazuo Ishiguro·1989·Ishiguro's Booker Prize-winning novel — the British companion in fiction about two old people and what they missed and might still have; Stevens's late recognition of what he could have had with Miss Kenton is the retrospective, more mournful version of the choice Addie and Louis make.
Our Souls at Night — Frequently Asked Questions
What is Our Souls at Night about?
Our Souls at Night is the story of Addie Moore and Louis Waters, two people in their 70s in Holt, Colorado. Both are widowed; both live alone across the street from each other. Addie comes to Louis one evening with a proposition: she is lonely at night, she says, and she wonders if he would be willing to come over and sleep in her bed — not for sex, but for company, so she won't be alone in the dark. Louis agrees, and the novel traces their nights together: their conversations about their pasts, their marriages, their children, what they wish they had done differently, and what they might still do. It also traces the reactions of their adult children and the Holt community, not all of which are supportive.
Was Haruf dying when he wrote Our Souls at Night?
Yes — Kent Haruf was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in 2014 and died in November 2015. Our Souls at Night was published in May 2015, and Haruf knew he was dying while writing it. The novel has the quality of something made by a person who has dispensed with everything unnecessary — it is very short, very direct, and without any of the elaboration or digression that a writer with more time might have permitted himself. Haruf's wife, Cathy Haruf, has described the writing process in interviews: he was on oxygen and writing at his desk, and the novel came quickly and was largely complete before his death.
Do the nights have a sexual dimension?
The novel is explicit that when Addie proposes the arrangement, she is not proposing sex — she says she is lonely at night and wants company. The novel traces the development of their relationship from this initial arrangement without being prudish about what it becomes. Haruf handles the question with his characteristic directness and without sentimentality — the intimacy that develops between Addie and Louis is treated as exactly what it is: two old people choosing to be alive together, and everything that entails.
How does Our Souls at Night compare to the other Holt novels?
Our Souls at Night is shorter and more concentrated than the other Holt novels — it is essentially a novella, and it can be read in a single sitting. It lacks the broad community portrait of Plainsong or Benediction and the multiple plotlines of Eventide; it is focused entirely on Addie and Louis and their relationship. The prose style is the same — spare, direct, unornamented — but the emotional register is different: less tragic than the end of the McPherons' story in Eventide, more quietly joyful. It is the warmest of the Holt novels.
What should I read after Our Souls at Night?
After Our Souls at Night, Plainsong (1999) is the essential companion if you haven't already read it. Eventide (2004) and Benediction (2013) complete the Holt trilogy. For American fiction in the same tradition of old age and late love, Marilynne Robinson's Gilead and Wallace Stegner's Crossing to Safety are the most important companions. For the international version of the same emotional territory, Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day and Fredrik Backman's A Man Called Ove are important companions.
Monthly Newsletter
Never miss a big release
Get the most anticipated upcoming books delivered to your inbox once a month — no spam, no filler.
Monthly only. Unsubscribe anytime.
Book links are Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, BookReleaseRadar earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.