Home Safe
"She understood the specific kind of appreciation that comes to a person witnessing a thing of beauty alone, how the spectacle seems to sit whole inside the soul, undiminished by conversation...."
Good morning! Here is my latest read, called Home Safe by Elizabeth Berg, a writer whose work I have previously reviewed here. Home Safe is not a new title, but is as relevant and poignant as ever. Helen is a 59-year-old novelist who is experiencing writer's block a year after her husband Dan passed away unexpectedly. While married she had been heavily dependent upon Dan, and is now finding every household repair, and life itself, difficult to navigate without him. When her accountant delivers the news that Dan had withdrawn $850,000 from their accounts without her knowledge, Helen is plunged into doubt about Dan, her finances, and what to do next. She unenthusiastically takes a job teaching writing to adults, some with disabilities and from a variety of backgrounds, but begins to love the process of watching her students become writers. Helen often pushes her 27-year-old daughter Tessa's boundaries with her good intentions and her not-always-so-subtle dependency. When Helen finally finds out what Dan had spent their money on, she and Tessa embark upon a mutually healing and loving exploration to discover what they want their lives to look like going forward.
Elizabeth Berg is one of my favorite authors for her pondering, introspective characters. Home Safe is a character-driven, rather than a plot-driven story, for the mature woman reader who is comfortable staying with the questions for awhile, before seeking answers. You can purchase Home Safe from your local bookstore, or click on the Amazon links below (the audio CD is only $5.44 if you still have a CD player!), or check out Berg's many wonderful titles from your library, or digitally from the Libby library app.
Hardcover 272 pages, Audiobook read by the author, 8 hours, 11 minutes
P.S. We love to hear from you! Please leave a comment below and tell us what you are reading now. I just started Lucy By The Sea, by Elizabeth Strout, and I am enjoying it!
