Elizabeth Berg Collection: Say When / The Art of Mending / The Year of Pleasures

by Elizabeth Berg, Sandra Burr (Read by), David Colacci (Read by)

Say Griffin is a happy man. Settled comfortably in a Chicago suburb, he adores his eight-year-old daughter, Zoe, and his wife, Ellen. But when he wakes one morning to hear of his wife’s love affair with another man and her request for a divorce, Griffin’s view of life is irrevocably altered. Now he must either move on or fight for his marriage, forgive his wife or condemn her for her betrayal, deny or face up to his part in the sudden undoing of his seemingly perfect life. The Art of Laura Bartone anticipates her annual family reunion in Minnesota with a mixture of excitement and wariness. Yet this year’s gathering will prove to be much more trying than either she or her siblings imagined. Laura’s sister Caroline is the family’s restless black sheep. When Caroline confronts Laura and their brother, Steve, with devastating allegations about their mother, the three have a difficult time reconciling their varying experiences in the same house. The Year of Betta Nolan moves to a small town after the death of her husband to try to begin life anew. Though still dealing with her sorrow, Betta nonetheless is determined to find pleasure in her simple daily routines. Among those who help her in both expected and unexpected ways are the ten-year-old boy next door, three wild women friends from her college days with whom she reconnects, a young man who is struggling to find his place in the world, and a handsome widower who is ready for love.

Audio CD

First published December 29, 2006

About the author

Elizabeth Berg is an American novelist.
She was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and lived in Boston prior to her residence in Chicago. She studied English and Humanities at the University of Minnesota, but later ended up with a nursing degree. Her writing career started when she won an essay contest in Parents magazine. Since her debut novel in 1993, her novels have sold in large numbers and have received several awards and nominations, although some critics have tagged them as sentimental. She won the New England Book Awards in 1997.
The novels Durable Goods, Joy School, and True to Form form a trilogy about the 12-year-old Katie Nash, in part based on the author's own experience as a daughter in a military family. Her essay "The Pretend Knitter" appears in the anthology Knitting Yarns: Writers on Knitting, published by W. W. Norton & Company in November 2013.

Reviews

[Nolan · Rating 2 out of 5]

In Say When, Frank Griffin lives a decently pleasant life. He loves his tomboy eight-year-old daughter, Zoe, and he sees himself happily married to Ellen. That all changes the day she announces she has been having sex with a local mechanic. She urges Griffin to move out and prepare for the reception of divorce papers. He refuses to move out, asserting that he’s not going to ever be a weekend dad.

In The Art of Mending, Laura Bartone looks forward to the annual family reunion at the Minnesota State Fair. But when her constantly depressed sister, Caroline, goes public with allegations about their mother, the reunion takes some interesting turns.

A Year of Pleasures is the strongest entry in this threesome. Betta Nolan cuts all ties to Boston weeks after her husband dies and insists on starting over in a small Illinois town. The book examines her struggles as a widow and her determination to find flowers of pleasure amidst the rocks and weeds of her grief and loss.

None of these achieve the stellar impact of Berg’s Dream When You’re Feeling Blue, which I read some years ago, and of the three, The Art of Mending is by far the weakest entry. It’s not likely a candidate for rereading, nor is it something I’m going to remember I read in six weeks. But it’s ok, and the commercial audio narrations are all solid.

[Christine Mcknight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book