The Curious Charms Of Arthur Pepper

By Phaedra Patrick

‘A charming, unforgettable story’ Harper’s Bazaar

40 years of marriage.
8 golden charms.
One man’s journey of discovery.

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.

‘Charming by name, charming by nature, this book is a balm for the soul and heart.’ The Sun

Readers have fallen in love with The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper:

'I enjoyed this lovely book so much. Recommended if you want to read a poignant, warm-hearted story' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'A lovely book and very well written with gentle humour and charm'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'A little gem of a book peppered with humour'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'Will leave you feeling warm and content by the end'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'Absolutely the best book I have read in a long time. The story was lovely'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'I truly loved every page! The most beautiful story that I've ever read!'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'A delightful read. I adored it'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Don't miss The Library of Lost and Found, another unforgettable tale from Phaedra Patrick.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: Apr 7, 2016
• ISBN: 9781474037921

Phaedra Patrick

Phaedra Patrick is the bestselling author of several novels, including The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper, which has been translated into twenty-five languages worldwide. Her second novel, Rise and Shine Benedict Stone, was made into a Hallmark movie. An award-winning short story writer, she previously studied art and marketing and has worked as a stained glass artist, film festival organizer and communications manager. Phaedra lives in Saddleworth, UK, with her family.

Reviews for The Curious Charms Of Arthur Pepper

[auntie0nanuuq · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The book was alternately boring & interesting which is why I only have rated this 3 stars; normally I would have put it down but the part about the charm bracelet kept me interested.Arthur Pepper's wife, Miriam, died exactly a year ago; he goes upstairs to their room and begins cleaning out her belongings in order to donate them to the local cat rescue thrift shop. When he comes across her boots, he remembers a story told to him about someone finding an old lottery ticket stuffed into a boot. Looking inside her boots he finds a box; when he opens it, there is a gold charm bracelet with eight gold charms on it: an elephant w/ an emerald, a tiger, a book that opens w/ a page inside, a thimble, a paint pallet, a ring, a flower of semi-precious stones, & a heart.Sitting & examining the gold elephant & emerald charm, he notices a phone number for Goa, India; the man on the other end was as a child in the care of Miriam... and this sets Arthur off on a treasure hunt where he gets to know about Miriam's past loves & life.

[karenbayly · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Such a charming story! Simply told, yet emotionally engaging. The characters feel like friends now. It's a love story of the best kind, not about romance but about the love we show in the way we live our lives - even if we do it in mysterious ways.

[shazjhb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyable book. Older man who lost his wife but found a bracelet which led to an adventure. Good read. Nice people.

[carriewuj · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Originally, I thought the title referred to Arthur Pepper's personality, but it refers to "charms" in the noun sense -- little objects. On the one-year anniversary of his wife Miriam's death, Arthur decides to finally clear out her things. He has had a rough, isolated, sad year and thinks this task may help him move forward. It does, but not in a way he could ever have anticipated. Early in the process, he finds a charm bracelet that he didn't even know she had, tucked into a box inside a boot. Secrets! In the half-dozen charms or so, he discovers things about his wife he never knew -- mostly prior to meeting her. Tracking down the sources of these objects take the reserved, set-in-his-ways pensioner out of his comfort zone: international phone calls and travel (India, France), brushes with famous people, and reliance on those more close to home: his bustling, do-gooder neighbor Bernadette (widow) and her morose young adult son, perpetually lawn-mowing neighbor Terry, and his own son Dan (in Australia) and local daughter, Lucy. As an audio book, the accents were charming and it was a delight to hear Arthur come alive. Though it was Miriam who died, Arthur was no longer living either. She herself comes through as a real character too. Reminiscent of Ove, and Harold Fry, but still unique in its approach, this is a happy, feel-good book.

[sarainoakland · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It took me a bit to get into it, but it's sweet and clever. The main character is so lovable. The idea that we can learn more about ourselves and grow at age 69 is hopeful and fresh. There's so much kindness in this story. I needed that!

[etxgardener · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

There seems to be a new fiction genre that concerns older British men who are set in their ways and living lives of quiet desperation until they get a nudge from a person or a past event or both and set off on an improbable quest to find the answer to some critical question. En route, the man has an epiphany that leads him to open himself up to a more fulfilling life. These books are not unpleasant to read. Prime examples like The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and Major Pettigrew's Last Stand are very enjoyable reads indeed. The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper is just such a book. Arthur Pepper is a retired locksmith and, at age 69 very set in his ways. He has spent his whole life in the north of England, never even taking the train down to London. He performs the same routine every day, wearing the same basic clothes. He has become more reclusive since his wife has died, and avoids his neighbors' efforts to get out and socialize. He's also remote from his grown children; a newly divorced daughter who lives nearby and a son who emigrated to Australia and has a family and his own business there.On the anniversary of his wife's death, he decides that it's finally time to clean out her clothes. Inside a boot, he finds gold charm bracelet that he's never seen before. One of the charms is an elephant upon which is an engraved telephone number. Curious, he calls the number and finds himself talking to a doctor in Goa who was cared for as a child by Arthur's wife. Arthur is stunned. He has never heard that his wife lived in India. Intrigued, he decides to try and riddle out the meaning of the other charms on the bracelet.In doing so, Arthur not only finds out extraordinary things about his wife, but also of himself. He also begins to open himself up to other people - his neighbors, his children and sometimes just perfect strangers. Of course there's a happy ending with everything tied up in a nice, neat bow. This book is the perfect antidote to our era of teh Covi-19 virus.

[romonko · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a wonderful book of aging and loss. When the story begins, we meet 69 year old Arthur Pepper. His wife of 40 years passed away a year before this book begins, and Arthur has been living alone and trying to exist without her. "Each day Arthur got out of bed at precisely 7:30 AM just as he did when his wife Miriam, was alive." - The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper, chapter 1. He has a set routine that he follows religiously and on the one year anniversary of Miriam's death he decides that it is time to go through her things and get them ready to send to a charity shop. He picks up one of her old winter boots and reaches inside and Arthur's life changes forever. He finds a solid gold charm bracelet in the toe of the boot. There were eight charms attached - an elephant with a green eye, a flower, a book, a paint palette, a tiger, a thimble, a heart and a ring. In all his years with Miriam, Arthur has never seen this bracelet, and so starts his journey to follow the charms and the stories behind them in order to learn more about his wife. On his epic journey he learns strange and sometimes unsettling things about his wife, but he also meets lots of strange and wonderful people, and he makes many new friends. Even close to home, he discovers the joys of friendship and caring with his widowed neighbour and her eighteen year old son. He also finds his way back to closeness with his two grown children, Lucy and Dan. This is a wonderful heart-warming book and a remarkable achievement for Phaedra Patrick, This is her first novel. Highly recommend.

[ltmanning · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A sweet and simple book...a big-hearted story with an underlying theme of letting go and finding independence, at any age.

[grandpahobo_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a nice, sweet book.

[managedbybooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So this was recommended to me by my coworker and it was so good! It’s definitely not the sort of thing I usually read but I couldn’t put it down.

[untitled841 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Likeable characters.
Journey to know a loved one.
Growth and development of a family.

[cdyankeefan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love this book.! Arthur is a grieving widower . On the one year anniversary of his wife’s passing, Arthur decides its time to go through his wife belongings. The accidental discovery of a charm bracelet leads Arthur on a journey he never could have imagined. This is sad, funny, quirky and totally enjoyable

[carolee888 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this tale. Being in the same age bracket, I was immediately attracted to Arthur Pepper' s life after his much loved wife passed away. He reminds me of my husband who lives by a routine too and now I hope that he does not get stuck even more in that after I am gone. Arthur did things on certain days and at the same time of day like watering Miriam's plant with just the right amount of water, His son, Dan, lived in Australia with his family and there was not much contact between them but he missed Dan so much. His daughter, Lucy, does call him periodically but she had gone through a divorce and they found it difficult to connect on a feeling level. He was happy with his routine but only later did he realize that he was lonely.He decided to take Lucy's suggestion to get on with life and he went through his wife's possessions, deciding on which to get rid of and which to donate to a charity for cats that Lucy liked. In a closet , he found a heart shaped box with a gold charm bracelet. He did not remember her having it at all. He took it to a man who was reported to know about charm bracelets and that was the beginning of his quest, From then on, we go with him on his journey of tracking down each of the charms. I enjoyed the tales of how, when and from whom Lucy got the charms, He busted out of his routine and learned so much about his wife's life before she died. The ending is more than just satisfying, it is over the top with wonderfulness!

[mrslee_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Charming story. Arthur is trying to move forward in his grief over the death of his wife. In the process of clearing out her things, he finds a charm bracelet he doesn't remember seeing before. His curiosity is piqued, and he decides to find out the history of each charm.A lovely story which explores the ways our behavior changes that of those nearest to us. Sometimes for good, sometimes not. A subtle story of relationships, and while not exactly uplifting, it isn't depressing, either. It is thought-provoking. I liked the way the story pulled me along. Not with drama or suspense, but because I cared about the characters and was curious to know what happened to them.

[thornton37814 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What a delightful book! Arthur Pepper, widowed for about a year, begins to sort through Miriam's belonging. Tucked inside a boot he finds a charm bracelet he does not remember seeing. On the elephant charm he finds an inscription leading him to make a phone call to India. He discovers his wife once took care of a young boy there. As he begins his quest to find the story of each charm, he not only learns more about his wife, but he learns more about himself as well. The book features interactions with his neighbors, his children, and people he meets in his efforts to learn the stories behind the charms. I loved this story, and although it's not great literature, it is the perfect book to just read and savor. I listened to the audio book read by James Langton who did a great job.

[john_warner-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sixty-nine year old Arthur Pepper is still grieving the death of his beloved Miriam. Approaching the one year anniversary of his wife's death, he decides that it is time to begin moving on. While emptying her closet of her clothing, he discovers a charm bracelet hit in the toe of one of a pair of boots. He is curious of its origins since he never knew his wife owned a charm bracelet. One of the charms is an elephant with an embedded emerald, which appears to have a telephone number engraved in its side. The decision to call that phone number begins a journey of discovering more about the woman before the two were married. More importantly, it is a journey of self-discovery and encouraging him to climb out of his pit of despair.I would have probably read this book earlier if I had known the title didn't to Arthur's personality traits. I enjoyed the series of discoveries spurred by one clue to the next as Arthur travels throughout England and Paris to learn more about his deceased wife's past. It was also pleasing to observe the protagonist's transformation from a man who had given up on life and his family to one who acquires a new purpose and appreciation for family and friends.

[sgilbraith-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book takes many turns in it for poor Arthur. I enjoyed it. It was a great debut novel with lovely characters.

[rmarcin-630843 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Charming story of a man trying to understand his wife's past after she dies. He uncovers many things about her that he didn't know, and in doing so, he questions their married life and love for each other. He also examines his other relationships.

[tjsjohanna_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book. The journey Arthur takes after his wife dies is such a difficult one but also full of grace. As Arthur discovers parts of his wife he was unaware of, he feels all these uncomfortable emotions, but his courage in facing the truth also brings deeper love and appreciation for her. And among the way his relationship with his children grows and is more meaningful. I loved this book.

[paperdust · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A retired widower embarks on an adventure to discover his late wife's mysterious past. The story is written with clarity, the writing style is honest and simple. Underlying which there is a sensible message of kindness and caring.

[hardlyhardy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

No, Phaedra Patrick's “The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper” cannot be considered great literature. It is too sentimental, too orchestrated for that. Still it makes great reading.Her story tells of a 69-year-old man, widowed one year before, who decides the time has come to dispose of his wife's things. He finds something he doesn't remember ever seeing before, a charm bracelet that makes him wonder where Miriam collected those charms and what their significance could have been. Why did she never mention them in 40 years?Arthur Pepper, a retired locksmith, has always been a quiet, colorless man, even more so in the year since his wife died. He rarely leaves the house, and Bernadette, a neighbor known for adopting lost causes, sometimes has to leave her food offerings at his doorstep because he won't answer her knock.The charms, however, spur Arthur into action. One in the shape of an elephant has a telephone number on it. He dials that number and reaches a man in India who says Miriam cared for him when he was a small boy. Arthur never knew his wife had been in India. Other charms lead him to Paris, to London, to an art school where Miriam's image still hangs on the wall and even to an estate where tigers roam and where a former playboy still lives. What kind of life did Miriam lead before marrying Arthur? And why did she marry him, of all men, then never tell him about her earlier life? Was she really happy?The man's journey of exploration, of course, brings him out of his shell and, more than that, affects his ability to relate to other people, including Bernadette and his grown children who, with problems of their own, have become distant. Neither of them even attended their mother's funeral.Patrick, even when stretching belief, keeps all this not just interesting, but compelling. She answers all of Arthur's questions and leaves him, and her readers, satisfied.

[boundtogetherforgood · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Arthur Pepper's wife died a year ago. Today he will go upstairs to begin the process of donating her personal effects...but he will find nested among her belongings a beautiful charm bracelet that he doesn't recall ever seeing before.The bracelet has several lovely charms on it and he believes that if he can trace the charms to their origin he will learn something about his beloved wife. This idea quickly turns into an adventure that he didn't anticipate; one that involves foreign countries, tigers, artists, and novelists.As a result of his quest, he learns that his wife lived a life that was full of unimaginable experiences before meeting him. Of course he worries that he was boring and that being with him meant that she had settled, and that she gave up things and must have missed them. He learns that while he didn't know anything of his wife's past, it doesn't mean that he didn't really know his wife. He also learns that she gave those things up purposefully because she loved him and that he was all that mattered to her then.If you found room in your heart for Öve, then you will easily find room for dear Arthur as he opens his life to oh, so many new things. If you enjoyed the quirky spunk of Eleanor Oliphant you will be delighted by the way that Arthur Pepper expands himself when he could instead simply take a seat in a rocking chair and never really live another day.We do not betray the memory of a deceased love one when we go on living. Arthur lives on.

[bostonterrio-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Being married to someone for forty years would certainly lead one to believe they know their spouse well. Turns out Arthur's wife kept a few secrets from before they were married. Almost a year after his wife's passing Arthur finally decides to sort through her things and stumbles upon a charm bracelet he never knew she had. The reader joins Arthur has he embarks on several adventures to discover the origins of the charms and what secrets his wife had been keeping. Along the way the reader meets several interesting characters. As he discovers more about his beloved wife Arthur rediscovers himself.

Really enjoyed this book. Very entertaining and held my interest the entire time. Heartwarming to watch Arthur rebuilding relationships with his children.

[maydacat_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What would you do if you discovered the spouse you had been married to for 40 years had a secret and much different life before you married? Arthur's wife Miriam has been deceased for a year, and Arthur has decided it is time to pack up and dispose of her clothing. He finds a charm bracelet hidden away in her boot, and curiosity gets the better of him. He begins to track down the various people his wife knew before they married, and Arthur discovers a much different Miriam. And in tracing her previous life, he becomes a much different Arthur. A heart-warming story, Arthur shows us it is never too late to become more than what you are. Even a 70-year-old retired locksmith can become a world traveler by taking that first step. An interesting plot with equally interesting characters.

[arielfl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Arthur Pepper's beloved wife Miriam has passed away. He spends his days caring for his fern Frederika and doing not much else. He has become estranged from his children and does not have any friends. One day he finds a charm bracelet that must have belonged to his wife in the toe of a shoe but he can't remember her ever wearing it. He becomes determined to learn about the meanings of the charms and in doing so discovers a side of his wife that he never knew. Learning about the charms makes him new relationships and repairs old ones. The reclusive Arthur Pepper finds his life changing in unexpected ways.This is a feel good book. I loved the characters, especially Arthur. This book shows that is never too late to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. The more you give to the relationships in your life the more you get back. Arthur starts out alone and through the charm bracelet he ends up with a whole different and better life. I loved this book and highly recommend it.

[clue_4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick begins a year after the death of Arthur's wife Miriam. Arthur has become rather reclusive since Miriam's death and his daughter Lucy is growing afraid that Arthur's mental health may be failing. Arthur, at Lucy's urging, finally decides to clean away Miriam's things and in going through her closet finds a heart shaped box in the toe of one of her boots. Inside the box is a beautiful charm bracelet. Arthur is certain he has never seen the bracelet and doesn't understand why Miriam would hide it. On inspection he finds a phone number engraved on the back of the prettiest charm, an elephant adorned by a beautiful gem. He calls the number and finds it belongs to a man Miriam took care of when he was a child. In India! Arthur had never known Miriam had lived in India nor that she had taken care of a child before their marriage forty years ago. Now he begins to have doubts about Miriam and what he thought had been a very happy marriage.The doubt and curiosity quickly get the best of Arthur and he decides to research the other charms; a tiger, a book, and a painter's palette. The reclusive homebody leaves home to gather clues and to learn more about Miriam's secret life. Along the way he meets lots of interesting people, has some frightening encounters, and experiences emotions he doesn't even know exist. Eventually, knowing he has the story of each charm, he returns home a changed man, a traveling man, and a better father and neighbor. The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper is a quick, light, uplifting book that is well written and a nice break from real life when one is needed.

[jjmcgaffey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Weird and wonderful. An unhappy widower finds a charm bracelet he never knew his wife had - and finding out about the charms on it (the first one was easy...) leads him to find out a lot of things about his wife he'd never known. She'd had a very adventurous life for a few years in her teens and early 20s, before she came home to the small English village where she'd grown up, met Arthur, and married him. They had a very quiet life, as his had been before he married - finding out what Miriam had done and where she'd gone before they met was a great startlement to him. Some of what he finds out is hard for him to handle, but some is delightful; he meets some amazing people along the way (not all from Miriam's past, either). And he wakes up from his grey life and grief, does some repair on his drifting-apart family, and starts widening his own experience. I like Arthur, and Miriam as we get to know her. Arthur does spend some time with low self-esteem - was Miriam really happy with their quiet life? - but he manages to settle the matter in his own mind, eventually. I kept thinking of Trustee from the Toolroom by Nevil Shute - the stories don't really line up (Shute's hero has a much more concrete goal, for one thing), but elderly men discovering they can do things they never thought of doing echoes.

[tadad_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Arthur Pepper, widower, is cleaning out his wife's belongings and finds a charm bracelet he's never seen before. Though set in his ways and as predictable as a clock, he would have said the same about his wife, so off he goes on a series of adventures, trying to find the stories behind each charm. Along the way, he learns that his wife had a life before him that he knew nothing about, and more than a bit about himself.It's a amiable and fairly predictable story about a shy and not-exactly-curmudgeonly man, somewhat like a Fredrik Backman story only not quite. I was kind of surprised to realize that, when I finished it, I had read it straight through. I guess I enjoyed it!Now after it's been set aside for a while, there are some niggling questions about the wife's behavior toward Arthur that bother me a little. They only bother me because Arthur seemed somewhat oblivious to them and he seemed smarter than that. A minor inconsistency in character.Still, I enjoyed it.

[booklover3258 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I absolutely loved this book! The story was amazing and heartfelt. The gist is Arthur's wife died and he found a charm bracelet. He goes to find out more about his late wife with the different charms and opens up a whole new world for him. It was a cute story and I loved the ending. Must recommended read for anyone!

[sheila1957 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved it! Arthur finds a charm bracelet in a shoe as he is cleaning out his late wife's cupboards. He is curious about it and begins a journey to find out about the bracelet. The bracelet tells the story of her past. As he learns about his wife, he also learns about himself and where he fits in the world now that she is gone. An excellent character study. We learn of Miriam, Arthur's wife, as he learns of her. She was not only who he lived with. She was a different person from whom he spent 40 years with. As he discovers her anew, he discovers himself also. I loved him and the characters he meets in his travels and in his neighborhood. He is many different men depending on who is around him. He reconnects with people. I liked the mystery surrounding the bracelet and how each charm on it pulls back another layer of his wife. I wanted to know the meaning of the charms and where they fit into Miriam's life.I will read this author again. This is a keeper book.