The Year of Pleasures
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 Pleasuresis 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.
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 Pleasuresis 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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Community Reviews
I always enjoy Elizabeth Berg's novels and this was no exception. This story of a youngish widow, 55-year-old Betta Nolan, explores her initial stages of grief after losing a wonderful husband, her almost impulsive decision to sell her home and move to a small town where she knows no one, and her initial efforts to rebuild a life.
While I am (very fortunately) not a widow, as someone in Betta's age group, I felt that her emotional ups and downs were very realistic. A determination to be happy and to embrace new friendships and perhaps even launch a new business can in an instant be replaced by an episode of mourning. She is fearful of being alone, and sometimes sees her husband in her new home. Yet each day Betta makes moves forward, nurturing new relationships, especially as she had allowed herself to be cocooned in her marriage and is in many ways starting almost from ground zero.
Betta and her husband were also childless, to their disappointment, and in her new town she gets a chance to "mother" a young boy whose own mother is not around much; as well as a very young man being whipsawed by a bitchy, manipulative girlfriend. These relationships are nourishing, as are the rekindled friendships she has with girlfriends from college, with whom she has made an effort to reconnect.
There is a kind, warm tone to this novel that I appreciate and that Betta herself represents. One of my favorite passages is one where she says:
âThe world was full of cynicism and judgement and what I believed was a knee-jerk recoiling against sentimentality. What had happened to us that we sneered at expressions of love and devoured stories of alienation and rage? Give me the hearts drawn on napkins, the men who walked on the street side of the sidewalk, the woman I met at a party who told me she always turned on Johnny Mathis to clean her bathroom. Give me the nurse who said, âYou know, people think Iâm such a good person to do what I do. But they donât understand that I get far more than I giveâit feels really good to take care of someone. It really does lift you up. When I go to work, Iâm going to church.ââ
I lovely read, and one that women in mid-life will probably find especially touching.
While I am (very fortunately) not a widow, as someone in Betta's age group, I felt that her emotional ups and downs were very realistic. A determination to be happy and to embrace new friendships and perhaps even launch a new business can in an instant be replaced by an episode of mourning. She is fearful of being alone, and sometimes sees her husband in her new home. Yet each day Betta makes moves forward, nurturing new relationships, especially as she had allowed herself to be cocooned in her marriage and is in many ways starting almost from ground zero.
Betta and her husband were also childless, to their disappointment, and in her new town she gets a chance to "mother" a young boy whose own mother is not around much; as well as a very young man being whipsawed by a bitchy, manipulative girlfriend. These relationships are nourishing, as are the rekindled friendships she has with girlfriends from college, with whom she has made an effort to reconnect.
There is a kind, warm tone to this novel that I appreciate and that Betta herself represents. One of my favorite passages is one where she says:
âThe world was full of cynicism and judgement and what I believed was a knee-jerk recoiling against sentimentality. What had happened to us that we sneered at expressions of love and devoured stories of alienation and rage? Give me the hearts drawn on napkins, the men who walked on the street side of the sidewalk, the woman I met at a party who told me she always turned on Johnny Mathis to clean her bathroom. Give me the nurse who said, âYou know, people think Iâm such a good person to do what I do. But they donât understand that I get far more than I giveâit feels really good to take care of someone. It really does lift you up. When I go to work, Iâm going to church.ââ
I lovely read, and one that women in mid-life will probably find especially touching.
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