Within the pages of The Book of Reuben twenty five years of a life unfold. We meet Reuben Styles as a typical hot headed teenager and follow his tumultuous life into adulthood. The natural progression of life: marriage, kids, work and looking after aging elders. Reuben meets Laura in high school and loves her from afar until finally she gives him a lukewarm chance at romance. At the same time Reuben learns the language of passion from an older woman.
It is not a spoiler alert to share that Reuben eventually convinces Laura to marry him, but truth be know, their relationship never really heats up and soon they are headed for divorce. When it comes to Laura's character, I sincerely doubt King could have made Reuben's wife more vile. At the height of her hatred of Reuben she is violent towards him, steals his money, has an open affair for the whole community to see, and tries to block Reuben from seeing his three children. Short of killing his mother or the family dog, there was little else she could do to him. As an aside, I read one review where someone said they didn't understand the purpose of the widow and her children as a characters. Come again? I felt each one set the groundwork for Reuben's personality. The widow taught Reuben the benefits of great sex, being a good lover, and what it felt like to have that fiery passion reciprocated. She cultivated a hot blooded male which made Laura's frostiness all the more frustrating. With the widow's troubled and strange son Reuben displayed an acceptance and kindness that solidified his reputation as a good guy...at least with this reader. I felt the purpose of the widow and her children were not for the plot, but rather for the character development of Reuben. ( )

Sweet little sixteen... Reuben sifflote au volant de sa dépanneuse. Direction, le lac. Avec cette chaleur, un petit bain de minuit sera le bienvenu.
D'une main, il décapsule une canette de bière. Geste machinal : des canettes, il en décapsule dix fois par jour, peut-être même plus. C'est d'ailleurs ce que lui reproche Haggerty, le père de Laura
- Elle a rien à faire avec un poivrot comme toi. Et comme garagiste, t'as aucun avenir, Reuben. T'approche plus d'elle, compris ?
Le samedi soir, toute la jeunesse de Nodd's Ridge se retrouve au bord du lac. Les couples s'embrassent sur les banquettes arrière des voitures garées dans l'obscurité de la pinède. Les autres écoutent de la musique sur la plage. Sweet little sixteen... Peut-être Laura sera-t-elle là, ce soir ? .
Si Reuben savait ce qui l'attendait, il serait moins pressé. Car Laura, en fin de compte, c'est un sacré numéro…