Over her long career, Berg has consistently written strong female characters at many ages and stages. In this book, I appreciate her portrait of small town life, her recently widowed 55 year old protagonist, and the significance of different kinds of friendship to the story. When the main character was in a bad way, it wasn’t a man who came to her rescue—it was her friends. (Fun fact: Liane Moriarty cites Berg as her favorite author and early inspiration.)

I've looked at Elizabeth Berg's work differently ever since Liane Moriarty said this author changed her life—and not just her writing life. Her new novel begins with a link to Arthur Truluv; many of the same characters reappear in her new novel, again set in the small town of Mason, Missouri. Berg writes warmly of sympathetic characters facing uncertain times, and leaning on each other (and a little big of magic) to find their way.

From the publisher: "For the past six months, Arthur Moses's days have looked the same: He tends to his rose garden and to Gordon, his cat, then rides the bus to the cemetery to visit his beloved late wife for lunch. Eighteen-year-old Maddy Harris is an introspective girl who visits the cemetery to escape the other kids at school. One afternoon she joins Arthur—a gesture that begins a surprising friendship between two lonely souls. Moved by Arthur’s kindness and devotion, Maddy gives him the nickname 'Truluv.' As Arthur’s neighbor Lucille moves into their orbit, the unlikely trio band together and, through heartache and hardships, help one another rediscover their own potential to start anew. A beautiful and moving novel of compassion in the face of loss, of the small acts that turn friends into family, and of the possibilities to achieve happiness at any age."

From the publisher: "Bestselling, award-winning novelist Elizabeth Berg offers an inspiring, eminently entertaining, and delightfully practical handbook on the joys, challenges, and creative possibilities inherent in the writing life. Both autobiography and primer, Escaping into the Open is an inspiring, practical handbook on the joys and challenges of the writing life. With wit and honesty, Berg provides numerous exercises that will unleash individual creativity and utilize all five senses. A classic in the vein of Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg and Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird—Elizabeth Berg’s Escaping Into the Open is an indispensable guide for any aspiring storyteller."

I've looked at Elizabeth Berg's work differently ever since Liane Moriarty said this author changed her life—and not just her writing life. From the publisher: "In this superb collection of short stories, Elizabeth Berg takes us into pivotal moments in the lives of women, when memories and events come together to create a sense of coherence, understanding, and change. In "Ordinary Life," Mavis McPherson locks herself in the bathroom for a week, shutting out her husband and the realities of their life together - and, no, she isn't contemplating a divorce. She just needs some time to think, to take stock of her life, and to arrive, finally, at a surprising conclusion. In 'White Dwarf' and 'Martin's Letter to Nan,' the secrets of a marriage are revealed with sensitivity and 'brilliant insights about the human condition' (Detroit Free Press) that have become a trademark of Berg's writing." Over her long career, Berg has consistently written strong female characters at many ages and stages.

Over her long career, Berg has consistently written strong female characters at many ages and stages. (Fun fact: Liane Moriarty cites Berg as her favorite author and early inspiration.) From the publisher: "A self-anointed spinster at fifty-one, Myra Lipinsky has endured the isolation of her middle life by doting on her dog, Frank, and immersing herself in her career as a visiting nurse. Myra considers herself reasonably content, telling herself, It's enough, work and Frank. And it has been enough -- until Chip Reardon, the too-good-to-be-true golden boy she adored from afar, is assigned to be her new patient. Choosing to forgo invasive treatment for an incurable illness, Chip has returned from Manhattan to the New England home of his childhood to spend what time he has left. Now, Myra and Chip find themselves engaged in a poingnant redefinition of roles, and a complicated dance of memory, ambivalence, and longing."

From the publisher: "As the novel opens, Kitty and Louise Heaney say good-bye to their boyfriends Julian and Michael, who are going to fight overseas. On the domestic front, meat is rationed, children participate in metal drives, and Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller play songs that offer hope and lift spirits. And now the Heaney sisters sit at their kitchen table every evening to write letters–Louise to her fiancé, Kitty to the man she wishes fervently would propose, and Tish to an ever-changing group of men she meets at USO dances. In the letters the sisters send and receive are intimate glimpses of life both on the battlefront and at home. For Kitty, a confident, headstrong young woman, the departure of her boyfriend and the lessons she learns about love, resilience, and war will bring a surprise and a secret, and will lead her to a radical action for those she loves. The lifelong consequences of the choices the Heaney sisters make are at the heart of this superb novel about the power of love and the enduring strength of family."

A fortieth high school reunion provides the opportunity for second chances, reconciliation, escape, and to finally say what was long left unsaid. Berg focuses on Dorothy, Mary Alice, Lester, Candy, and Pete as they reconnect with their past and make sense of where their lives went right or wrong. The reunion means something different for each of the attendees but one thing is for sure: their lives will never be the same again.

From USA Today: "What We Keep is about ties that are buried but not broken, wounds that are dressed but never heal, and love that changes form but somehow survives."

Berg writes wonderful female characters. This novel features three women struggling for her own kind of freedom in 1964 Tupelo, Mississippi.

The publisher says: "From the writer whose work The New Yorker calls "strong" and "timeless," True to Form is a delicately told tale of a young girl wise beyond her years, whose growing pains finally awaken her to the clarity of forgiveness and a greater understanding of the complicated world around her."

From Booklist: "Popular author Berg will thrill her fans with this sweet, often humorous novel about loss and reconciliation."

From the publisher: "Named one of the ten best books of the year by USA Today. Elizabeth Berg has written a lush historical novel based on the sensuous Parisian life of the nineteenth-century writer George Sand—which is perfect for readers of Nancy Horan and Elizabeth Gilbert. Paris in the nineteenth century comes vividly alive, illuminated by the story of the loves, passions, and fierce struggles of a woman who defied the confines of society. Sand’s many lovers and friends include Frédéric Chopin, Gustave Flaubert, Franz Liszt, Eugène Delacroix, Victor Hugo, Marie Dorval, and Alfred de Musset. As Sand welcomes fame and friendship, she fights to overcome heartbreak and prejudice, failure and loss. Though considered the most gifted genius of her time, will the life she longs for always be just out of reach—a dream?" Add Audible narration for $4.99.

From the publisher: "In this exquisite, emotionally rich novel, New York Times best-selling author Elizabeth Berg offers a deeply satisfying story about the bonds of love and the balm of friendship. A young man named Jay lies in a coma after suffering a freak accident, and his wife, Lainey, is the only one who believes he will recover. She sits at his bedside, bringing him reminders of the ordinary life they shared: fragrant flowers, his children's drawings, his own softly textured shirt. When Lainey's faith in his recovery falters, she is sustained by two women, Alice and Evie, who teach her about the endurance of friendship - and the genuine power of hope. Filled with beautiful writing and truths about life, Range of Motion is compelling and impossible to forget." Add Audible narration for $7.49.