What We Keep - Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56

     What We Keep is the touching story of two sisters, beginning at ages twelve and thirteen, told in flashbacks. As an adult, Ginny (the younger sister) travels across the country for a reunion with her mother whom she has not seen for thirty-five years. The story of the two sisters' childhood is revealed in Ginny's memories during her journey. 
     The author shows amazing insight into the way children think and react to changes in their lives. I enjoyed her sense of humor, characters, and description. This is a book I will read again.


Book Beginning:
Outside the airplane window the clouds are thick and rippled, unbroken as acres of land. They are suffused with peach-colored, early morning sun, gilded at the edges. Across the aisle, a man is taking a picture of them. Even the pilot couldn't keep still--"Folks," he just said, "we've got quite a sunrise out there. Might want to have a look." I like it when pilots make such comments. It lets me know they're awake.

The Friday 56 - From page 56 in my paperback. Here's what Ginny thinks about her ballet lessons.
     Though I enjoyed looking at ballerinas, I hated studying ballet. It was the crowns the ballerinas wore that I lusted after, the ride in the elaborately decorated sleigh I saw when we watched The Nutcracker on television. I had no desire to train my body to do difficult things requiring grace and precision.

Genre: Contemporary Fiction / Family Saga
Length: 274 Pages (Originally released in 1998)
Amazon Link:  What We Keep
Author Website/Blog: Elizabeth Berg Website

Synopsis from Goodreads:
     Do you ever really know your mother, your daughter, the people in your family? In this rich and rewarding new novel by the beloved bestselling author of Talk Before Sleep and The Pull of the Moon, a reunion between two sisters and their mother reveals how the secrets and complexities of the past have shaped the lives of the women in a family. 
     Ginny Young is on a plane, en route to see her mother, whom she hasn't seen or spoken to for thirty-five years. She thinks back to the summer of 1958, when she and her sister, Sharla, were young girls. At that time, a series of dramatic events--beginning with the arrival of a mysterious and sensual next-door neighbor--divided the family, separating the sisters from their mother. Moving back and forth in time between the girl she once was and the woman she's become, Ginny at last confronts painful choices that occur in almost any woman's life, and learns surprising truths about the people she thought she knew best. 
      Emotional honesty and a true understanding of people and relationships are combined in this moving and deeply satisfying new book by the novelist who "writes with humor and a big heart about resilience, love and hope. And the transcendence that redeems" (Andre Dubus). "From the Hardcover edition."

                         

Anyone can participate in Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56.
Click HERE to connect to other Book Beginnings posts (sponsored by Rose City Reader)
Click HERE to join other Friday 56 bloggers (sponsored by Freda's Voice)