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Search - The Art of Mending
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The Art of Mending Author: |
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Book Information
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Other Versions of this Book: Hardcover, Hardcover, Audio CD, Audio Cassette, Audio CD (Unabridged)
Book Description:
It begins with the sudden revelation of astonishing secretssecrets that have shaped the personalities and fates of three siblings, and now threaten to tear them apart. In renowned author Elizabeth Berg's moving new novel, unearthed truths force one seemingly ordinary family to reexamine their disparate lives and to ask themselves: Is it too late to mend the hurts of the past?
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. As soon as she arrives, Laura realizes that something is not right with her sister. Forever wrapped up in events of long ago, 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. But a sudden misfortune will lead them all to face the past, their own culpability, and their common need for love and forgiveness.
Readers have come to love Elizabeth Berg for the lucent beauty of [her] prose, the verity of her insights, and the tenderness of her regard for her fellow human (Booklist). In The Art of Mending, her most profound and emotionally satisfying novel to date, she confronts some of the deepest mysteries of life, as she explores how even the largest sins can be forgiven by the smallest gestures, and how grace can come to many through the trials of one.
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. As soon as she arrives, Laura realizes that something is not right with her sister. Forever wrapped up in events of long ago, 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. But a sudden misfortune will lead them all to face the past, their own culpability, and their common need for love and forgiveness.
Readers have come to love Elizabeth Berg for the lucent beauty of [her] prose, the verity of her insights, and the tenderness of her regard for her fellow human (Booklist). In The Art of Mending, her most profound and emotionally satisfying novel to date, she confronts some of the deepest mysteries of life, as she explores how even the largest sins can be forgiven by the smallest gestures, and how grace can come to many through the trials of one.
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Top Member Book Reviews
Veronika B. (
7 member(s) found this review helpful.
Siblings in the same family often have completely different experiences while growing up. One child may be favored more, another might be abused. But would it be possible for one child to be abused without the other siblings knowing about it? Imagine the shock of having a sibling accuse your parents of abuse 40 years after it supposedly occured. How would you know whether to believe it or not?
Karen H. (
6 member(s) found this review helpful.
I loved this book. It's the first book by Elizabeth Berg that I've read and I definitely will read more. This book hit home with me because it involves siblings struggling to come to terms with the secrets and disfunctionality of their childhoods. For instance, one sister continues to live in the past, one wants to stay in the present, etc. It's a wonderful read for anyone wanting to gain more insight into the psychological aspects of family relationships.
5 member(s) found this review helpful.
Elizabeth Berg has the rare ability to paint human relationships so vividly that you feel as if you are IN the book. She brings to life characters that you can identify with... people that could be next to you at the post office, your next door neighbor, your own family. It is hard to read this book and not come away thinking about your own relationships (the good and the bad).
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
I haven't read anything in a long time about which I could say that I wished I could give it more than 5 stars, but this is definitely one of those times. Elizabeth Berg reminds me a little of Anne Tyler in her painstaking description of the family in this story. She doesn't make any one character totally a 'good guy' or totally a 'bad guy' like many authors do. Each character has obvious gifts and flaws in differing measures. This wound up being a very fast read, since there is no way I wanted to put it down. Now I have to start getting ALL of Berg's books.
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
This was definitely an interesting book, although I can't say I loved it. It did keep me reading straight through until the end, which is a sign of a good book, but it didn't leave me with that "I just read a wonderful book" feeling when I was done.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
I picked up this book because of its good reviews, but I found myself disappointed at the end. I agree with the reviewer who liked the beginning and found the follow-through lacking. It has great potential at the start - an interesting notion about siblings planning to work out some old, mysterious issues - but the as the action played out, I found the story to be less dramatic, less interesting. I even found myself annoyed by the dialogue in the end - and with the subplots that don't seem to have any finalization. Don't think I can recommend this one...
Valerie (
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Relationships, family dysfunction, and the drama of childhood memories shared with siblings. This is a good emotional story, everyone can relate to the characters. Makes you stop and think about your own life and family.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
A woman in my office recommended this author to me, so I ordered a copy from paperbackswap.com. I read it in one night. Elizabeth Berg is such a good writer, and so insightful that this quiet, sad, domestic novel sang. I highly recommend it.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
I enjoyed the family drama of this book. Everyone thinks their family has cornered the market on family angst and dysfunction, this showed a family working through it.
J R. (
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Well-written. Two sisters come to terms with a mother who was abusive to one, but not the other.
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Please Rate these Book Reviews
I requester this book as a gift and had it mailed directly to the recipient as a "surprise"
The recipient loved the book and enjoys the author.
This was an awesome book. Very quick read and very intersting subject. I would read something else from Elizabeth Berg in a heartbeat.
Love this website!!!
This was a very warm, sensitive book recounting the life of a new widow and her move to a new town very soon after she loses her husband. She develops many interesting relationships as she works her way through her grief.-----------Disregard this---should be on A Year of Pleasures.
Three siblings growing up in the same house but with different views. But a sudden misfortune will lead them all to face the past, their own culpability; and their common need for love and forgiveness.
Bonnie (Excellent book, my first Berg but not my last! highly recommend...
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