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Elizabeth Berg

2009260 pagesabout 4–6 hours
2009
first published
  • 2009Random House Publishing Group · ENGISBN 9781588368522
  • 2009Random House · 260 pages · ENGISBN 9781400065110
  • 2009Ballantine Books Trade Paperbacks · 276 pages · ENGISBN 9780345487551
  • 2009Random House Large Print · 352 pagesISBN 9780739328415

In this new 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 loss and grief, unable to do the work that has always sustained her--is beginning to depend far too much on her twenty-seven-year-old daughter, Tessa, and is meddling in her life, offering unsolicited and unwelcome advice. Helen's problems are compounded by her shocking discovery that her mild-mannered and loyal husband was apparently leading a double life. The Ameses had painstakingly saved for a happy retirement, but that money disappeared in several large withdrawals made by Helen's husband before he died. In order to support herself and garner a measure of much needed independence, Helen takes an unusual job that ends up offering far more than she had anticipated. And then a phone call from a stranger sets Helen on a surprising path of discovery that causes both mother and daughter to reassess what they thought they knew about each other, themselves, and what really makes a home and a family.From the Hardcover edition.

How it feels

Emotional toneUnflinching

How it reads

Plot intensityCharacter driven
Character focusSmall ensemble
ComplexityLayered

When and where

ThemesFamily

Content notesnot yet assessed

Quotesnone available

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