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Krrobi

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Chick Lit With Substance

Kim Sisto Robinson

Have you found an author, whom you continue going back to for joy and comfort? That author for me is Elizabeth Berg.  She’s a soft homemade quilt I can spread over my body for warmth, a friend I call when going insane, and a hot fudge sundae I want to continue devouring. Non Fattening, Of course.

Berg writes what we think, because sometimes we can’t say it, because saying it makes it real. She has her characters fulfill desires and fantasies we’d not risk doing ourselves.  Berg hangs out our naughty little secrets for us, and we don’t need to suffer the consequences.  Her words are what I want on a cold Minnesota night as I sit drinking my hot cup of tea.  And if one happens to be passing 65^th and Cody on a stormy winter’s evening in December, they’d most likely catch me curled up with Talk Before Sleep, What We Keep, The Day I Ate Whatever I wanted, or Pull of the Moon (My Favorite).

These books are my refuge from reality.

Berg understands women, and this is the reason I keep going back.  In her novel Pull ofthe Moon, the main character, Nan, is severely neglected,  and leaves her family to travel around the country.  She sends letters to her husband from each destination. “Today driving through Ohio, I noticed a woman shucking peas on her porch. I’ve always wanted to do this, so I stopped to spend the afternoon with her.”  Or “Yesterday I faced my darkest fear. I camped outside alone (with only a sleeping bag) in the woods.  Oh, what a sense of liberation to face one’s greatest fear. And I did it without you.”  Or, “Today I walked into the super market and when I noticed a box of Tampons sitting on the shelf, I cried for a half an hour, because I knew in a few years I would be middle aged” Or, “I met a young man in Michigan who lost his wife.  He asked me out for dinner to talk. Very innocent, honestly, he was young enough to by our son.  Afterward he asked if he could come to my hotel room to brush my hair…” The book is filled with so much insight and beauty that the language overflows upon the pages.  Still.

All of Berg’s books have strong female characters, who survive in spite of everything, always evolving, growing, experiencing, loving, and dreaming.  Talk before Sleep   is about four women who connect strongly after one of the characters is diagnosis with breast cancer.  The dialogue is uncensored and real; four girlfriends talking about affairs, husbands, sex, younger men, God, and death. “I’ve always liked the taste of semen,” Ruth blurts out during one of their talks.  “Not me,” says Ann, “It’s like raw eggs and too salty.”  I don’t know about you, but I talk about everything with my girlfriends, and so does Berg.  I like that kind of honesty.

I could go on and on about the deliciousness of Elizabeth Berg’s books, but I’d rather have the reader experience her for yourselves, curl up on the sofa with some hot green tea, and wrap her stories around your body like a warm, patched quilt.  No need to expect a Pulizer, but you will be left with chocolate fudge on your face.

Other Berg Books:  Joy School, Open House, Joy of Mending, Range of Motion, What We Keep, Talk Before Sleet, Pull Of The Moon, Escape Into The Open