Never Change: Summary and book reviews of Never Change by Elizabeth Berg, plus links to an excerpt from Never Change and a biography of Elizabeth Berg.

You know people like me. I'm the one who sat in a folding chair out in the hall selling tickets to the prom but never going, the one everybody liked but no one wanted to be with. 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 poignant redefinition of roles, and a complicated dance of memory, ambivalence, and longing. From the author whose work The New Yorker calls "strong" and "timeless" comes a wry and beautifully distilled portrait of one woman's resilience in the face of loneliness, and of a union that transcends life's most unexpected and challenging circumstances. With effortless warmth, and loving respect for characters that defies easy sentiment, Never Change melds the emotional depth and gentle intensity of poetry with the rich satisfactions of finely wrought fiction.

Media Reviews

Kirkus Reviews Another bedside drama from prolific bestseller Berg ..... Berg wastes her considerable writing talent on a contrived, familiar story, and a likable but implausible protagonist. Still, who can argue with success?   Library Journal Berg seems to have bounced back. Her previous novel, Until the Real Thing Comes Along was a fun read, but there was no substance beneath the diversion. With Never Change, Berg gets closer to the power and depth of her early novel Talk Before Sleep.

Recent Reader Reviews

Rated of 5 by Lindaintexas
I have just finished "Never Change". I cannot remember a book that brought me to the deepest parts of the human experience as effectively as this one. Elizabeth Berg knows what the greater truths of life are. She walks in the path of...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Alana Mcdonnas
i am still only in high school but the librarian in my school recommended this to me as she had already read it and enjoyed it. i found this book was funny in some parts but in other parts it had me in tears.

Myra - who is the main...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Melanie Nordquist
I absolutely loved this book. Every sentance painted mental pictures for me. The language is nothing short of beautiful, the emotions brought about by the writing charmed and entrigued me. Some of the references to childhood experiences brought...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Tim
It is funny how a person can write what "you" feel...and so on the dot too. Everything from Myra getting excited with the phone call with Chip all the way to Myra wanting to die with Chip. A beautiful story told with a unique touch of...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Linda
I thought the book was kinda good but not all that. I enjoy reading the book beacuse it deals with nursing and I am a studtent major in Nursing so it help me learn new things and explore the career as a nurse. The book was cool.

Rated of 5 by Laurie Gibbons
I really enjoyed Never Change. I though the character of Myra was a great person to come to know and follow. There were aspects to her character that I could relate to; she was a very real person. I cried my eyes out through many parts of the...   Read More

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