Home Safe

Found at a library sale, HOME SAFE (2009) was definitely a bargain and a delightful read, if a bit predictable after a certain point. But that's okay. Elizabeth Berg books are a secret vice. Comfort reading for this old man. This time she's writing about a recently widowed successful Chicago writer with writer's block, who is generally worried about her adult daughter, her aging parents and a more immediate problem of what did her late husband do with most of their million dollar retirement fund. In fact this woman appears to be so wealthy, it was a bit hard to relate. But no matter. She fills her time by teaching a writing class full of interesting types at her local library, the mystery is solved and a possible new love enters her show more life. As in most of Elizabeth Berg's books, everything works out well in the end, like a Hallmark movie, but with an infinitely better script and more interesting characters. This used book was an in-between read, and was, in that role, nearly perfect. Bless you, Elizabeth.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER show less

Patrons at the library recommend books all the time, but I rarely respond to their suggestions. However, in the case of the Home Safe, I had this weird feeling that the patron who recommended it to me was like an older version of me, so of course I had to read what future-me was reading.

And Home Safe is totally what future-me wants to read. A warm, cozy, intelligent, emotional story about a 59-year-old woman who is adjusting to life after the death of her husband. Like a more optimistic Anne Tyler.

Despite my troublesome attitude toward Helen, I really liked this book. Elizabeth Burg is eloquent in her simplicity. About 50 pages in, I was ready to give up on this book. I didn't like the characters. I didn't like the story. I didn't like the writing style. I stuck with it though. I still don't particularly care for Helen or her daughter; but the story is exceptional.

I know why, initially, I hated the story. I was reading it as if I expected outside action. This is not the way this story plays out. This is about internal dialogue and working through emotions. Home Safe is a character study using some stream of consciousness; and that makes for an uncomfortable read.

I didn't know Elizabeth Berg before I read this book but I certainly want to get to know her now. I really enjoyed this book. It centers around Helen, who is not recovering from her husband's Dan's death like she and others feel she ought to. Had some beautiful depictions of grief and stuckness, which managed to make you feel the pain but not impatient with it - no mean feat. Helen is flawed and somewhat irritating, but I loved her cri du couer to her good friend about wanting to write about women who want to be looked after, that she never wanted indepence in the first place. I also like how the portrait of Dan moved from perfect dead husband, to lost flawed human. It was a very satisfactory novel on many levels and I will read Ms Berg show more again. I also emailed my family and told them all to read it, not something I usually do, so this definitely had an impact on me. show less

It was particularly interesting to read Berg's acknowledgements, in which she said she herself faced writer's block, and her daughter told her, then write about not being able to write. It takes a talented writer to tell that story. Home Safe might be Helen Ames' story, but it's also a beautifully written story of a writer, who feels as if she lost everything, not only her beloved husband, but also her writing, the art that gave her a reason to live. She lost the husband, and the writing, what kept her Home Safe.

After the death of her beloved husband, Helen Ames and her adult daughter, Teresa, struggle to cope with the grief, However, Helen is dismayed to learn that her husband may not have been the honest man she thought he was. Upon investigating, Helen notices that large withdrawals were made from his savings account just prior to his death. Meanwhile, Tessa grapples with the difficulties of finding love.

I've been reading a lot of particularly fine novels lately by women authors, with female lead characters who are forced to grow in uncomfortable and unexpected ways when their lives are suddenly upheaved. This is one such book, about Helen Ames, a recently widowed novelist who finds herself frozen in life after her husband's death, unable to write anymore, and too dependent on her adult daughter for the simplest of life's tasks, which her husband had always performed. Her world is further shattered by the discovery that before his death, her husband withdrew most of their life savings for an unknown purpose. When she does discover what his intentions were, she is forced to weave this knowledge into the fabric of the new life she is show more attempting to create for herself. A very good book with a satisfying and realistic conclusion. show less