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Summary and Reviews of The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg

The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg

The Year of Pleasures

by Elizabeth Berg
  • Critics' Consensus (3):
  • Readers' Rating (3):
  • First Published:
  • Apr 1, 2005, 224 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Mar 2006, 225 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Book Summary

The Year of Pleasures is about acknowledging the solace found in ordinary things: a warm bath, good food, the beauty of nature, music, friends, and art.

In this rich and deeply satisfying novel by the beloved author of The Art of Mending, and Open House, a resilient woman embarks upon an unforgettable journey of adventure, self-discovery, and renewal.

Betta Nolan moves to a small town after the death of her husband to try to begin anew. Pursuing a dream of a different kind of life, she is determined to find pleasure in her simply daily routines. Among those who help her in both expected and unexpected ways are the ten-year-old boy next door, three wild women friends from her college days, a twenty-year-old who is struggling to find his place in the world, and a handsome man who is ready for love.

Elizabeth Berg's The Year of Pleasures is about acknowledging the solace found in ordinary things: a warm bath, good food, the beauty of nature, music, friends, and art. "Berg writes with humor and a big heart about resilience, loneliness, love, and hope. And the transcendence that redeems," said Andre Dubus about Durable Goods. And the same could be said about The Year of Pleasures.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

Library Journal - Caroline M Hallsworth
Berg's talents grow richer with each book....Poignant, intimate, and hopeful, this is a novel to read, treasure, and share. Highly recommended.

Kirkus Reviews
The prolific Berg champions middle-aged craziness in an impossibly sunny soap opera....Unhappiness, in Berg's world, isn't an option.

Publishers Weekly
There is little effort at cohesion--rather, a kind of serendipitous plot that goes every which way and a series of tentative, aborted romances. The impression readers will be left with is of a woman endlessly nurturing and rarely satisfied.

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Beyond the Book



Before she became a full time writer Berg was a registered nurse (also a waitress, chicken washer, rock 'n' roll singer and information clerk) which gave her the inside track when writing Range of Motion, Talk Before Sleep and Never Change which all deal with differing health crises.

Most of her novels stand-alone, but three feature the same character - the young pre-teen/teenager and 'army brat', Katie Nash. Berg says that she never meant to write a sequel, let alone a trilogy, but 'there was a time when I was lying in the bathtub, and I thought about ...

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Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

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