In this stunning novel, beloved bestselling author Elizabeth Berg weaves a beautifully written and richly resonant story of a mother and daughter in emotional transit. Helen Ames-recently widowed, coping with grief, unable to do the work that has always sustained her-is beginning to depend too much on her twenty-seven-year-old daughter, Tessa, meddling in her life and offering unsolicited advice. Then Helen is shocked to discover that her mild-mannered and seemingly loyal husband was apparently leading a double life. When a phone call from a stranger sets Helen on a surprising path of discovery, both mother and daughter reassess what they thought they knew about each other, themselves, and what really makes a home and a family.
Elizabeth Berg is the author of many bestselling novels as well as two works of nonfiction. Open House was an Oprah's Book Club selection, Durable Goods and Joy School were selected as ALA Best Books of the Year, and Talk Before Sleep was short-listed for an Abby Award. Her bestsellers also include The Year of Pleasures, The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted, and Dream When You're Feeling Blue. Berg has been honored by both the Boston Public Library and the Chicago Public Library and is a popular speaker at various venues around the country. She lives near Chicago.
Show moreIn this stunning novel, beloved bestselling author Elizabeth Berg weaves a beautifully written and richly resonant story of a mother and daughter in emotional transit. Helen Ames-recently widowed, coping with grief, unable to do the work that has always sustained her-is beginning to depend too much on her twenty-seven-year-old daughter, Tessa, meddling in her life and offering unsolicited advice. Then Helen is shocked to discover that her mild-mannered and seemingly loyal husband was apparently leading a double life. When a phone call from a stranger sets Helen on a surprising path of discovery, both mother and daughter reassess what they thought they knew about each other, themselves, and what really makes a home and a family.
Elizabeth Berg is the author of many bestselling novels as well as two works of nonfiction. Open House was an Oprah's Book Club selection, Durable Goods and Joy School were selected as ALA Best Books of the Year, and Talk Before Sleep was short-listed for an Abby Award. Her bestsellers also include The Year of Pleasures, The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted, and Dream When You're Feeling Blue. Berg has been honored by both the Boston Public Library and the Chicago Public Library and is a popular speaker at various venues around the country. She lives near Chicago.
Show moreElizabeth Berg is the author of many bestselling novels as well as two works of nonfiction. Open House was an Oprah’s Book Club selection, Durable Goods and Joy School were selected as ALA Best Books of the Year, and Talk Before Sleep was short-listed for an Abby Award. Her bestsellers also include The Year of Pleasures, The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted, and Dream When You’re Feeling Blue. Berg has been honored by both the Boston Public Library and the Chicago Public Library and is a popular speaker at various venues around the country. She lives near Chicago.
“It’s easy to understand why Elizabeth Berg is a beloved,
best-selling writer.”—Chicago Sun-Times
“Simple, beautiful, and ever so real . . . one of [Elizabeth
Berg’s] most honest and intimate novels.”—Boston Globe
“Home Safe explores, with insight and humor, what it’s like to lose
everything and to emerge from the other side.”—St. Petersburg
Times
“[Elizabeth] Berg gracefully renders . . . the notions that every
life . . . has its share of awful loss, and that even crushed,
defeated hearts can be revived.”—Publishers Weekly
“[Berg’s] warmth, humor, and forgiving eye for human nature, mixing
wry observation with heartwarming moments, make this a pleasant
read.”—Library Journal
Love, work and the absence of both figure prominently in Berg's latest, a rumination on loss and replenishment. Since novelist Helen's husband, Dan, died a year ago, she's been unable to write, and though her publisher and agent aren't worried, she is, particularly after a disastrous performance at a public speaking engagement leaves her wondering if her writing career will be another permanent loss. Meanwhile, daughter Tessa is getting impatient as Helen smothers her with awkward motherly affection. Tessa longs for distance and some independence, but Helen is unable to run her suburban Chicago home without continually calling on Tessa to perform the handyman chores that once belonged to Dan. And then Helen discovers Dan had withdrawn a huge chunk of their retirement money, and Helen's quest to find out what happened turns into a journey of self-discovery and hard-won healing. Berg gracefully renders, in tragic and comic detail, the notions that every life-however blessed-has its share of awful loss, and that even crushed, defeated hearts can be revived. (May) Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.
"It's easy to understand why Elizabeth Berg is a beloved,
best-selling writer."-Chicago Sun-Times
"Simple, beautiful, and ever so real . . . one of [Elizabeth
Berg's] most honest and intimate novels."-Boston
Globe
"Home Safe explores, with insight and humor, what it's like
to lose everything and to emerge from the other side."-St.
Petersburg Times
"[Elizabeth] Berg gracefully renders . . . the notions that
every life . . . has its share of awful loss, and that even
crushed, defeated hearts can be revived."-Publishers
Weekly
"[Berg's] warmth, humor, and forgiving eye for human nature, mixing
wry observation with heartwarming moments, make this a pleasant
read."-Library Journal
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