Book Summary and Reviews of Life by Elizabeth Berg

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Cathryn_Conroy

Literary Comfort Food for the Soul: A Lovely and Heartwarming Escape from the Real World
This is a lovely, thoughtful, and heartwarming escape from the real world. It is filled with joy and love. I call it literary comfort food for the soul.

Florence Greene is 92 years old, a widow who lives alone in the house she and her beloved husband, Terrence, owned for decades. Flo has just found out that she has four to six weeks to live, so she is spending this last precious bit of time writing a very long letter to Ruthie, the little girl who grew up in the house next door. Flo and Terrence weren't able to have children of their own, so Ruthie was a substitute. She spent hours and hours in their home, talking to Flo. And now Flo is leaving the house and all its contents to Ruthie, who is married with children of her own.

Flo describes the letter as an autobiography of things in the house and what they mean to her: a rubber band that is in a matchbox tied with a ribbon, a giant safety pin, a Mrs. Hen coffee mug, a metal box filled with recipes, and a teddy bear who lives in a blue cardboard suitcase, to name just a few.

About half the book is epistolary—the letter that Flo is writing to Ruthie to be delivered upon her death. The rest of it is the story of Flo's life past and present, as well as the people she is meeting now, mostly new neighbors and a funny encounter with Mimi the librarian. Oh, and Flo gets the first pedicure of her life and along with it a blue streak dyed in her hair.

This is a sweet, lovely novel with delightful characters and a simple plot that will light up your day. It is filled with solid life advice, offered in a tender and wise way. Like so many of Elizabeth Berg's books, especially the "Arthur Truluv" series, this one brilliantly captures the magnificence of life—and in this case, life at the end of life.

It's a treat! This is ChickLit at its finest.

Bonus: There is a fabulous recipe for corn-on-the-cob on page 51. (I read this on a Kindle, so the page numbers are a little wonky. If it's not page 51, it's close to it.)

Another bonus: The book cover is gorgeous!

Janine_S

Sweet Love Story
Elizabeth Berg has a magical touch in writing. I've read one of her other books and was blown away. She has done it again for me. Flo Greene has terminal cancer. She's 92. Flo is planning to leave all her possessions to a dear friend and former neighbor, Ruthie, who's facing some tough things in her life too. Flo writes Ruthie a letter to explain what her possessions have meant in her life, to explain her marriage and to offer Ruthie hope for the future. The book alternates between the letter (Flo's biography if you will) and her present-day life where she befriends her neighbor, Teresa McNair, a death doula, who is single. Flo helps Teresa navigate the online dating world.

Flo is a magnificent creation. She's real, not saccharine. She's the kind of person you'd want in your life. Flo is a lover - a lover of all the glorious things in life no matter how small or simple.

Other books by Elizabeth Berg at BookBrowse

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