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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780345487544
ISBN number: 0345487540
Label: Ballantine Books
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 304
Printing Date: January 29, 2008
Publishing house: Ballantine Books
Release Date: January 29, 2008
Sale Popularity Level: 25686
Studio: Ballantine Books
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Berg takes us to Chicago at the time of World War II in this wonderful story about three sisters, their lively Irish family, and the men they love.
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.
From the Hardcover edition.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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"It was (vintage year). (Vintage song) was playing on the radio. '(Repeat vintage song title)', she sang to herself as she looked into the mirror and thought that she looked just like (vintage star). Later she would go down to (vintage place) and (vintage craze), or maybe she would go to the movie theatre and watch (vintage movie). After all, it WAS her favorite."
I've never read anything that sounded so much like a Mad Libs puzzle. Rearrange the vintage references and you have a tale that could have taken place at any time in history. Insert Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe, and voila, it's the 50s. Insert Matchbox 20 and Nicole Kidman and it's the 90s. Insert Gypsy music and a good public stoning, and it's the middle ages. It's almost like a nightmare homework assignment where a teacher gives you an old magazine and asks you to build a story around the articles and advertisements within.
Much has been said about the final, confusing chapters in the book, and I'll add only this much: The Author obviously thought she had a good twist going, but if my sister's husband ever said anything like that to me, I wouldn't think it romantic or bittersweet. I'd think him a terrible cad and slap his lousy face in public.
Rated by buyers 
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A return to a simpilier time. . . . It does seem simple on the service: the references to movie stars of the time, hair styles, food, speech, etc., but actually...things were extremely hectic. A horrible war was going on. Boys left for the war and it was not known if they would return. The family were left to worry, write letters of encouragement, and wait.
I enjoyed reading that the Heaney family was so close. Their warmth seemed to keep the members of the family together. Their closeness acted like a buffer to the realities that they had to face: life in wartime. What with rationing, war posters (even Mickey and Donald got in the act), and feelings of fear (will he make it home alive) it was nice to read that the family kept together and were there for each other.
At first, the ending did seem a bit hasty, but then it made sense. The relationship between Kitty and Hank seems to be dissolving in previous chapters. He wants a stay-at-home wife and she has tasted independence- so the conflict begins here. He is more suited for Louise. Afterall, a cookie-cutter ending (where Hank marries Kitty) would really not make sense and would be so ho-hum (boring). I thought it was so refreshing and creative.
I did love this book-couldn't wait to see how everything turned out. I would recommend this book. The school reunion at the end was fantastic.
Rated by buyers 
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I enjoyed The Art of Mending by Elizabeth Berg so much that I rushed out to get audiobook versions of some of her other work. Why do authors read their own material? It never works. I couldn't get through the very first CD. A thin voice. Irritating. Grating, in fact. Especially after the creamy richness of listening to Jill Tanner's narration in Atonement.
Publishing houses should discourage authors from reading their own work, much the same way movie studios discourage them from writing screenplay adaptations of their books. It's another art form. Leave the narration to the vocal performers.
You might have a different experience with the written word, but I don't recommend the audio version.
Rated by buyers -
I bought the book, read it quickly, then returned it to the store for a full refund. I don't usually do that, but even paperbacks cost a fair amount of cash now and my shelf space is at a premium, and frankly I didn't want to waste either one on this piece of trite garbage. The story was very strange, with characters being built up, then acting out of character, and it seemed to be an excuse to try to take some of the shine off the Greatest Generation. I was so disappointed when I read it, I didn't even want to send it along to my mother or sister, like I usually do when I enjoy a book but don't want to keep it. It's not that I'm cheap, but I plain didn't want one cent of my money going to this author, or to the publisher who put out this drek.
Rated by buyers 
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Anyone interested in "homefront" style stories will enjoy this one. A lovely, simple story of an engaging family, somewhat predictable, and I would not be surprised if Hallmark picks this up as a movie. Thankfully, it is not written in the very first person present; that extremely annoying, self-absorbed recounting of every action and thought of the narrator as it is happening (!) as most of Elizabeth Berg's books are written, which is why I can't get through any of her other books, though I have tried.. She has wonderful ideas for stories but of all her books, this is the one that I DO recommend.
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