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What We Keep by Elizabeth Berg
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What We Keep (original 1998; edition 2002)

by Elizabeth Berg

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1,1951816,320 (3.77)16
Fiction. Literature. HTML:??BERG KNOWS THE HEARTS OF HER CHARACTERS INTIMATELY, showing them with compassion, humor, and an illuminating generosity.?
??The Seattle Times

??BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN . . . [Ginny Young] crosses the country for a reluctant reunion with the mother she has not seen in 35 years. During the long hours of her flight, she returns in memory to the summer when she turned 12 and her family turned inside out. . . . What We Keep is about ties that are buried but not broken, wounds that are dressed but never heal, and love that changes form but somehow survives.?
??USA Today

??COMPELLING . . . Reading [this] book is like having an intimate conversation with a friend who is baring her soul.?
??Charleston Post and Courier

??TOUCHING . . . WHAT WE KEEP IS SOMETHING OF VALUE.?
??San Antonio Express-News

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Elizabeth Berg's O
… (more)
Member:theunstrungharpist
Title:What We Keep
Authors:Elizabeth Berg
Info:Ballantine Books (2002), Edition: Reprint, Mass Market Paperback, 272 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:****
Tags:None

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What We Keep by Elizabeth Berg (1998)

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» See also 16 mentions

English (17)  German (1)  All languages (18)
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Digital audiobook performed by Stephanie Roberts.

Do we ever really know our parents? Would we still love them if we did? Could we forgive them their mistakes?

The novel opens with Ginny Young on a plane, flying cross-country to see her mother, whom she hasn’t seen in thirty-five years. She thinks back to 1958, when she and her sister, Sharla, were young girls, and a new “exotic” neighbor moved in and opened their eyes to glamorous possibilities. But it was also the summer their family fell apart.

The novel moves back and forth in time as Ginny recalls her childhood and how she felt about the events of that summer, and on the years since, including her own experiences as a mother. She learns a few things she’d been unaware of before and adjusts her long-held opinions based on new evidence.

Berg writes family relationships so very well. All the ways in which we rely on and trust one another, show our love and loyalty, and hurt or betray one another. There are always two (or more) sides to any story, and it takes a mature person to wait to pass judgment until all parts are known. My heart broke for all the family members, and my loyalties shifted as I learned more.

Stephanie Roberts does a marvelous job of performing the audiobook. Ginny’s character as an adult woman is very different from her 11-year-old self and there are many other female characters in the book, which Roberts very well. ( )
  BookConcierge | Sep 30, 2021 |
What a beautiful little gem of a book! It's about mothers, and these 2 girls' mother. What happened in their lives, to change things so completely, what undeniable. But what what perceived, and what really happened, were 2 different things. Luckily, they all clear the air, and were able to reunite, after 35 years.. but the tale itself was quite touching. ( )
  stephanie_M | Apr 30, 2020 |
Very quick read. Not my favorite Berg, but enjoyable. Interesting take on mother / daughter relationships and the price women may pay for wanting to live independently (from husbands, etc.). ( )
  justacatandabook | Mar 9, 2016 |
47yo woman reminiscing about the summer when she was 12 and everything changed when her mother left ( )
  nancynova | Sep 12, 2015 |
Well-written as usual, but I did not like the narrator Ginny at all. ( )
  pidgeon92 | Apr 1, 2013 |
Showing 1-5 of 17 (next | show all)
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Epigraph
China Decorates our table Funny how the cracks don't Seem to show You're right next to me But I need an airplane I can feel the distance Getting close

-From "China" by Tori Amos
Dedication
To women who risk telling the hard truths
First words
Outside the airplance window the clouds are thick and rippled, unbroken as acres of land.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Fiction. Literature. HTML:??BERG KNOWS THE HEARTS OF HER CHARACTERS INTIMATELY, showing them with compassion, humor, and an illuminating generosity.?
??The Seattle Times

??BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN . . . [Ginny Young] crosses the country for a reluctant reunion with the mother she has not seen in 35 years. During the long hours of her flight, she returns in memory to the summer when she turned 12 and her family turned inside out. . . . What We Keep is about ties that are buried but not broken, wounds that are dressed but never heal, and love that changes form but somehow survives.?
??USA Today

??COMPELLING . . . Reading [this] book is like having an intimate conversation with a friend who is baring her soul.?
??Charleston Post and Courier

??TOUCHING . . . WHAT WE KEEP IS SOMETHING OF VALUE.?
??San Antonio Express-News

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Elizabeth Berg's O

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Ginny Young crosses the country for a reluctant reunion with the mother she has not seen in 35 years. During the long hours of her flight, she returns in memory to the summer when she turned 12 and her family turned inside out...
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