Dream When You're Feeling Blue

Dream When You're Feeling Blue by Elizabeth Berg; (5*)

I think that perhaps this is my favorite Berg. I loved this book.
Kitty lives with her five brothers and sisters in a small house in Chicago in the 1940's. She is waiting for the day her boyfriend, Julian, comes home from the war. But other things are happening in their lives. Her sister's unexpected announcement, one of her brothers does something drastic for the war effort, and Kitty meets another man that could change her destiny forever.
Although some people have complained that the book is slow I savored the slowness. It took me back to another time when people weren't in such a hurry and did the best they could with what they had. Also I noticed in the acknowledgments that Berg show more had talked to her relatives and other WWII veterans so I felt the book was well researched. This is a lovely glimpse of days gone by.
And yes, I love this novel ..... even though both of Kitty's fiances end up marrying someone else and she ends up a spinster. I think she found happiness in her life. show less

Not my favorite of her novels. Don't get me wrong; I LOVE her style, her voice, her characters, and the way she writes. I love WHAT she writes, time and again!
The setting in this novel was very realistic in the beginning and middle. what happened during the war was spot-ON, and the characters were amazing. the research the author did for this time-period made me SO happy!
but... the ending was all wrong. there was NO WAY someone would make the decision one of the sisters did, not in real life.. no matter what!! I just don't think that could/would happen. Sorry... I mean, these sisters really loved each other, no matter how much fighting they did, true. But to give up something that means SO MUCH to you, just to make another happy? Even show more to keep them alive...? Nope, I don't think so. Not only would this decision NOT have cleared things up completely, as is seemed to in this novel, but there would have been some residual mental issues. Possibly even bad repercussions!! People have feelings, and a decision like this would have effected everyone, very badly, in the entire family. I don't see how the father allowed it, and no one saw through her reasoning!
The way the sister made everyone go along with her decision was completely left out of the book, as well. Possibly, IMHO, because there's no way she could have made everyone else go along with it, irregardless. NO argument would have been enough. None. --And then, 60 years were skipped; NOT FAIR, Mrs/ Berg!!
I do still recommend this novel, for all those who love this era, or would love to learn more about it. But when you read this novel, for goodness sakes, bring a box of kleenex! I teared up off and on throughout the entire thing. WOW, so heartfelt and sad, but wonderful.... until the ending. lol show less

This book was fine. It tells the story of an Irish-American family living in Chicago during World War II. It's essentially a novel of the homefront, and in parts, it was really engaging. But in others, it was heavy-handed and awkward, and I found the ending just so odd and off-putting, that I finished it dissatisfied. Overall, though, it's not a bad read. And it's another hardcover off my shelf that I can now purge :)

Dream When You're Feeling Blue is a story about three sisters doing their best to survive being left at home during World War II. Kitty, the eldest, writes to her steady boyfriend, Julian, while her sister Louise writes to Julian's best friend Michael, who proposed just as he was leaving for the Army. And their youngest sister, Tish, writes to just about every gentleman she meets at the USO dances she loves. Kitty struggles with both her devotion to Julian and her decision to work at a defense job helping to assemble airplanes as everyone at home struggles to support the war effort.

I have to say, I really enjoyed this one. It's a light read, but it's a glimpse into what wartime looked like for those who weren't on the front lines. All show more of Kitty's family members are affected in their own way, and the stories told here remind me of those I've heard in person about coping during the war. Kitty is an independent little thing, and her struggles to find herself and determine how she wants to live her life really strike home with me.

I have to mention the ending, though: you're either going to love it or hate it, because it comes out of nowhere. It definitely didn't register the first time through, and I had to go back and re-read the last two chapters several times before it sunk in. Having read other reviews, I think I'm in the minority in my appreciation of the ending -- some have mentioned that they believe the last two chapters are out of character for Kitty, but I do think it follows what Berg intended. show less

My sister passed this book over to me, almost unable to speak when she finished it. And I can see why she loved it so much -- I devoured it in a matter of days. I fell in love with the Heaney sisters and really felt my heart constricting at so many points in the novel. It was a fascinating glimpse into the life of American families during World War II and, though it's a work of fiction, felt eerily accurate. I actually called my grandmother to ask her some questions after I finished 'Dream When You're Feeling Blue.' The relationships between the sisters were the most interesting to me, and I felt oddly nostalgic, weepy and grateful to have my own sister by the end of the book.

As other reviewers have noted, I took off a star for the show more ending -- while unexpected, it did feel out-of-place and "tidy" in many regards. I was too shocked to process what was happening. I had to re-read the last few pages three times. Still, a really effective and moving novel. show less

Interesting book with some good perspective on WWII and how children were "forced" to feel guilty about buying gum rather than war bonds, writing letters to soldiers each night, etc.

BUT--the ending was the WORST!!!!! Absolutely did not make sense at all and made you feel that Kitty really did make one too many sacrifices and was it worth it in the long run.

In 1943 Chicago the Heaney family is learning to cope with war-time rationing, nights spent around the radio listening to FDR and his fireside chats, and saying goodbye to the boyfriends of the 2 eldest Heaney girls, Kitty and Louise, as they head off to war. The separation brings Louise and her fiancee, Michael, closer together, especially when it is learned that Louise is pregnant. But Kitty and her boyfriend, Julian, don't seem to have a strong connection which makes it all the easier for Kitty to fall for a handsome pilot, Hank, at a USO dance. High school aged sister Tish happily flirts with all the servicemen she meets at the dances and spends her evenings writing letters to dozens of young men at the war front.

What started as a show more so-so book about 3 beautiful sisters and their focus on fashion, the movies and shopping became an interesting look at women's lives in the early to mid 40's. Kitty takes a job at an airplane factory despite her parents' objections; although the work is backbreaking Kitty is proud of the money she earns to help her family and she learns to deal with the sexist comments of male co-workers and the horrified looks she gets from women on streetcars because she is wearing slacks. She also begins to realize how horrible it must be for the soldiers so far from home and she begins to question whether she would like to end up like her mother, a stay-at-home housewife with six children and nothing other than her family to occupy her time. At this point the book became a 4-star read for me but the ending was so unbelievably awful that it quickly fell to a 3-star. show less