Home Safe - Elizabeth Berg
Well, I've become a fan of Elizabeth Berg. I like her writing style and feel her characters' emotions. It's light reading, but has some good thought provoking topics.
Book Cover: 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 their 27 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 seemingly 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 dies. 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.
When Helen was growing up, her parents never pushed her to be independent and she had always relied on her husband to take care of everything and so when he died suddenly, she had no clue how to do anything. A Stephen Minister would have helped! Helen was a great author, but could no longer write after her husband died. This book made me think about how "pampered" I am, as Len does so much for me and yet, I feel that could be independent and take care of myself very well. I think we (women) can do whatever our minds are set to do, but we also work together to make a marriage/relationship gel. We each have our own abilities and do them well, hopefully learning from each other.
I look around me and see many women without their husbands to do their "honey do" list and are making out just fine. Is it easy? No, but they manage. I think by the end of the book, Helen learned that she could be independent and "do her own thing".
Finished: June 20, 2011
Book Cover: 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 their 27 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 seemingly 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 dies. 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.
When Helen was growing up, her parents never pushed her to be independent and she had always relied on her husband to take care of everything and so when he died suddenly, she had no clue how to do anything. A Stephen Minister would have helped! Helen was a great author, but could no longer write after her husband died. This book made me think about how "pampered" I am, as Len does so much for me and yet, I feel that could be independent and take care of myself very well. I think we (women) can do whatever our minds are set to do, but we also work together to make a marriage/relationship gel. We each have our own abilities and do them well, hopefully learning from each other.
I look around me and see many women without their husbands to do their "honey do" list and are making out just fine. Is it easy? No, but they manage. I think by the end of the book, Helen learned that she could be independent and "do her own thing".
Finished: June 20, 2011
I think that this is true for any husband or wife. We learn to work as a team. You do this and I'll do that. You give and take to figure things out -- lots of communication! But, you are right. If you have to do it, you figure it out. Or ask for help!
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