The Year of Pleasures

I'm not going to lie: This book may have spoken to me because the events in the character's life very much reflect a lot of the things going on in my own...But then again, it is quite possible that the themes throughout are universal and speak to everyone no matter what point in their lives!

My opinion leans toward the latter: That anybody, at any stage in their life may appreciate the messages of hope, disappointment, uncertainty, frailty of life, friendship, comfort, discomfort...

Elizabeth Berg has an extremely fluid yet substantial way of writing that made this book a very quick and satisfying read. I appreciate the preciseness of her words and the very real descriptions of the thoughts, emotions, and people in the life of a woman who show more has lost some direction.

For those of you who are looking for someone to empathize with, tragic life events (and the emotions that come with them) to mirror your own, solace and hope in a story of friendship and hope, Berg will give you a graceful, yet real and honest, text you can absorb in a weekend. This will be a compact, compassionate, and evocative book that I highly recommend! show less

I'm only giving this book three stars because I found the ending to be very weak. Berg spent most of the book building up the story of a childless widow who moves from Boston to a small Midwest town, the new friends she makes, and old friends she reconnects with. At what felt to me like the middle of the story, she suddenly begins a wrap-up that skips several months and leaves too many loose ends.

That "first half" was a comfortable and somewhat luxurious read, like the "pleasures" (good food, beautiful things, etc.) from which the title is taken.

What a beautifully written story! **NOT to be read right after losing a spouse, or loved one!
I love everything about this book. Berg has the power to make you feel everything Betta was feeling, and it was so beautiful and delicately painful, I had to drop my book at one point, and go hug my husband!! I now miss the main characters, and wish I could go back and see them again.. and maybe stay for dinner... So many profound passages! It really makes you think about things, and want to experience life like Betta is. I wish life would fall into place so easily, like this!!

I've had a "complementary copy" (without the cover pictured) of this book sitting around for some time, and decided to read it after completing Berg's The Art of Mending for an online book discussion.  My copy of the latter had a preview of The Year of Pleasures, which sounded much more interesting than The Art of Mending was.

After children's book author Betta Nolan's beloved husband John dies of cancer when they are both age 55, she decides to continue with his plans for them and sells their home in Boston, driving west until she finds a promising town about 50 miles south of Chicago, and buys a Victorian house.  Betta and John were wrapped up in each other, and Betta is lonely after his death.  She reconnects with her old college show more roommates and makes friends with some of the quirky residents of her new home town.  When she tells one of her old roommates that she thinks she's entitled to a year of grief, the friend responds (pages 157-158):

"How about a year of pleasures, instead?...So many people who lose someone think that they need to behave in a prescribed way.  Of course you're hurting!  But what if you determined to find one thing every day that you...make happen...purposefully doing one thing that brings you happiness every single day, in a very conscious way.  It builds up the arsenal...And the days turn into years.  And the years turn into a lifetime."

That was the message John was trying to give her, too - perhaps still doing so with a series of cryptic notes on slips of paper he left in a wrapped cigar box a neighbor delivered after his death.  Betta puts the papers in a Chinese chest that they "had always loved best of anything we owned...Sometimes we'd hidden things in there to be found later as surprises, either to ourselves or to each other." (page 31)  Later she remembers what "green bowl" on one slip of paper means, and realizes about the other slips of paper, "Those that I had been unable to decipher, at least not then.  But here was the glory: We were not done with each other yet." (page 32)

The book starts strong with passages like these, with beautiful writing and excellent descriptions.  I could even buy into Betta's situation initially, which many reviewers found unrealistic (selling her Boston home for nearly two million and easily finding the perfect house in the perfect town, not to mention her apparently perfect marriage).  Unfortunately it fell apart for me in the last quarter of the 206-page book.  The plot becomes very unrealistic, and there are a number of minor characters who are not well-developed (especially the 20-somethings Matthew, Melanie, and especially Jovani, all of whose interactions with Betta make absolutely no sense).  Still, the book has a lot to say about dealing with grief, small pleasures, seizing the moment, and making the most of the time we are given.

© Amanda Pape - 2011 show less

Betta Nolan finds herself newly widowed and at a loss for how to go on with her life. She and her husband often dreamed of driving into the Midwest from their home in Boston, finding a quiet town, and retiring in peace. Fulfilling a dying promise to him, Betta decides to take on this adventure on her own and finds herself impulsively buying a home in a remote town in Illinois. She has brought with her a small box of enigmatic words that her husband left for her. Each one seems to be either reminding her of some pleasant memory or encouraging her to pursue new experiences.

As Betta makes acquaintances in her new town, she also begins to pursue long-dormant relationships with friends from her past. She lost touch with many of them after show more her marriage but they are all delighted to hear from her again and rally around her nascent idea of opening a gift shop for women. Betta begins to explore new experiences such as dating, baby sitting a neighbor boy, and counselling a young man about his love life. Ultimately she learns that it is never to late to start over.

I found this novel odd and unsatisfying. Betta as a character seems to worship her husband and even in death seems to be taking orders from him. She seems to have married young and completely devoted herself to one man, letting all her other relationships lapse. She doesn't have any friends, family, or hobbies. It was hard to relate to such a one-dimensional personality, and it was hard to appreciate her relationship with her husband because we are only told about it.

Betta doesn't really have a very interesting story in this novel. She seems to easily make friends in the new town and begins picking a fight with a twenty-year-old's girlfriend. The girlfriend is a cartoonishly vilified character who seems to merely exist as a foil to the protagonist. Betta judges her and makes it her mission to save this woman's dopey boyfriend from dating her. It's all extremely undignified and doesn't really pay off all that well.

Betta's friends also seem very willing to drop everything and fly around the country to hang out with her. One even decides to move to the small town permanently, move in with her, and help start her business. I thought this was extremely unlikely, but was willing to go along with it as this is obviously a feel-good novel. But then, bizarrely after this person has sacrificed her old life to help Betta through her grief, Betta gets into an insane cattish fight over a man she doesn't even like.

Betta even wonders if she's made a huge mistake moving here and contemplates going back to Boston. I mean, I get it. I thought that moving to the middle of the country away from everything she found familiar and presumably everything she knows was a frankly insane choice. But I was willing to allow it because it seemed to be Betta's lifelong dream. However, she contemplates moving back to Boston for essentially only a few days but then goes back to Illinois, patches things up with her friend and starts a business. Oh well, I guess everything is fine now? show less

I have to say, I had my reservations about this book. I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but when I picked it up at the library the style seemed to be aimed at more mature women, and I worried that I didn’t have enough life experience to fully appreciate a book about a woman who has lost her husband of many years to cancer.

I needn’t have worried. I became thoroughly absorbed in the story of Betta Nolan, a woman in her fifties, recently bereaved and trying to follow her husband’s last wishes for the direction her life should go after his death. The reader first meets her driving through the American countryside. She and John had dreamed of packing up their lives and driving randomly until they came across a nice town show more where they could start a new life. Now Betta is taking up the challenge on her own, both as a distraction from her grief and to honour her promise to live her life to the full.

The story meanders through her unhappiness, her bravery, and her faltering steps as a single woman in a new place. She meets new people, catches up with old friends, and nurtures her lifelong dream to open a beautiful shop called ‘What A Woman Wants’, full of vintage treasures and comforting femininity. She reaches out to young people and old people alike, takes risks, and reaps the rewards. Slowly grief begins to give way to hope and the whispers of a happy future, with wonderful memories instead of painful regret.

I think this story has something for everyone – it is full of wisdom and humour, it has a mixed bunch of characters to appeal to different readers, and anyone who has ever lost anyone can relate to Betta’s journey, whether they have been bereaved after thirty years or broken up with a boyfriend after a few months. Ultimately it is a novel about simple pleasures, counting blessings, taking chances and making the most of every precious day – and that’s something we could all do with being reminded of every once in a while. I might just read more of Elizabeth Berg’s work now… show less

As I read this book, I found myself wondering what my life might be like should my husband die. What would it be like to grieve his death... what changes might that bring to my life.... I found the story of Betta Nolan touching and thought provoking.