Rating: 
Summary: Berg is a Keeper!
Review: Elizabeth Berg does it every single time...
Gives us charaters with imperfection and flaws. Characters who make bad choices, and we get it, understand it, even think, that is meeeee!This novel is about Ginny, a 47 year old woman, reflecting about her childhood, and her mother who left the family to pursue her own dreams and desires. A mother who was miserable with the choices she had made in life and not in love with her husband anymore. "I remember now, my mother crying, and my father asked her what was wrong. She told him it was the onions, but when I looked inside the sink, she was peeling apples. I rembember that clearly." -What We Keep- The nerve of a mother to pick up and leave her family. This is a sin Ginny and her sister, Sharla, will not, absolutely, will not accept. When the mother comes home unexpectedly to visit, sitting on Sharla's bed...
Sharla screams, "Get out! You are not allowed. You are not allowed." The reader will feel the anger also and (Mothers') who leave deserve it. Simply deserve the hatred that is being thrown at them. She is hated fiercely and loved at the same time, fiercely. Berg will not allow us not to love her too. What is this book about? FORGIVENESS. Forgiving the person who has hurt you the most, and going on. Loving the person who has not earned it, simply because they did the best they knew how. Because loving is better than bitterness. Going on...Letting go...Setting yourself free
Rating: 
Summary: Not one of Berg's best
Review: I've read many of Elizabeth Berg's books and have found that while some are wonderful, others are merely okay. WHAT WE KEEP unfortunately fell into the latter category. The main character is Ginny, a middle-aged woman who is flying out to California to meet the mother she has not seen in 35 years. Although Ginny had written off the relationship with her mother long ago, she made this trip at the request of her older sister, Sharla, who may or may not have cancer. As Ginny flies across the country, she recollects her childhood, reviweing the events that led to her and her sister's estrangement from their mother. The majority of this novel is told in flashbacks. Although Ginny and Sharla's anger towards their mother was understandable, the resulting 35-year estrangement seemed to be an extreme reaction. Furthermore, once the novel returns to the present day, the reunion between Ginny and Sharla with their mother happens too quickly and too easily. Although the story was engaging at times, ultimately, I did not find it to be believable, and I was disappointed in the end.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a keeper
Review: Once again Ms. Berg is apparently saying that it is OK to abandon ones' responsibilities and family, as she does in "Pull of the Moon" (which I absolutely do not recommend either). Basically, the two daughters, Ginny and Sharla, have a lifetime of bitterness torward their mother for leaving them. As well they should. But then, lo and behold, they meet their mother again at the end and suddenly everything is forgiven, everything is OK. I think Ms. Berg may be trying to say that forgiveness is important, that no matter how much someone hurts you, you should still try to understand them and accept them. But unfortunately, there is not enough development in this story to make it fly. What also struck me as funny that at the end of the book, the mother is still beautiful, she is rich and living in California, and suddenly it is perfectly OK that she abandoned her responsibilities as a mother because she was successful. Suddenly her daughters accept her. Where, earlier in the book, the mother lives in a shabby apartment and the girls cannot accept her (granted, they are still kids at that point). I am simplifying a bit, but that's the notion that I got reading this book and what does that say? Money buys you forgiveness and happiness? I don't know. I'm giving this book two stars because E. Berg is a good writer and because I think she is trying to present themes of forgiveness. This book still serves as an OK quick read. Just be prepared to not agree with it.
Rating: 
Summary: Touching, moving, surprising.....
Review: I have read most of Berg's novels, and never sure why I hadn't picked up this one yet I snatched it up for a vacation read. I was so happy (aside from not wanting to put it down and enjoy vacationing) with the results! Berg takes you on a trip of a young girls life as she remembers it as a woman, going to visit her mother and sister. Memories (written in present tense as she viewed it) teach you of love, family pain, parental approval, mother's depression, and so much more subtle and poignant lessons we so often over look and don't even realize we have learned them. What is so liberating is that you believe you have the book figured out, and then Berg throws you just the slightest curve ball which breaks your heart and leaves you asking.....who have I judged unfairly in my life??? This is a book well worth buying, reading, sharing with your girlfriends and discussing with your book clubs. Elizabeth Berg doesn't disappoint, but this book, for me, went above and beyond the mark. I highly recommend if you enjoy 'women' reads and never tire of reading the simple, heartbreaking daily tests life throws our way that strike a deep chord every time. It seems at one point I almost felt angry and disppointed with a character or two, to the point that I wondered if I should even finish the book....but I promise you, it all ties together in the end and you will walk away wiser for having read it.
Rating:
Summary: Lovely writing
Review: What a delightful introduction to Elizabeth Berg. I was completely captivated by the author's loving descriptions of childhood. The heroine was so wonderfully created I could see her, at times even smell her. The author does a tremendous job of creating a place and a time and a family shaded ever so carefully by memory -- the perfect blend of nostalgia and sentiment. If you are a boomer, you'll be able to identify with much of this book, especially that special feel of a 1950s household with the stay-at-home mom, the at-work dad and the unvarying but oh-so-comforting routine. After all that, however, I was disappointed in the conclusion of this book. The reason for the heroine's estrangement from her mother seems rather minor when it is revealed and the ending seems a letdown, very movie-of-the-weekish. But that is actually a very, very small part of the book. Don't let it keep you from reading it. It's perfect for your airplane trip or to stash in your beach bag. And it just might get you to call your sister!
Rating:
Summary: What We Keep
Review: Elizabeth Berg does an excellent job telling the story about young teenager, Ginny, in What We Keep. Ginny is like most teenagers in the 50s. She looks up to her sister Sharla who she thinks knows almost everything. Ginny and Sharla have fun, strange, and sad experiances threw out the novel. Ginny tries to understand her mother's new behavior, but just doesn't seem to get it. Then, she gets distracted with a new crazy neighbor, her son, and other characters that bring something new everyday. Ginny and Sharla are soon curious about what is happening under their own roof with their mother and father when her mom does something unexpected. Years later, Ginny looks back on her life changing events as she rides across the country to her mom, who she hadn't seen in 35 years. Together Ginny and Sharla see what her mother has become over the years that have passed since their adventurous life growing up.
Rating:
Summary: A great, weekend read.
Review: This book moves quickly, lets you read a few pages at a time or the entire book in one or two sittings. I love Berg's masterful use of the English language, the depth of her characters, and also the tempo of how the story plays out. While the theme is similar to that of Secret Life of Bees, this novel is superior by far. A delightful book.
Rating:
Summary: Mothers and Daughters..
Review: are so special. This book has everything in it to satisfy the literary soul. Childhood romance, heartache, sisters relationships, fathers and daughters, friendships and more. I love books where things aren't what they seem and also has important life lessons. This is my first Berg book, and I look forward to more!
Rating:
Summary: Not a keeper
Review: Once again Ms. Berg is apparently saying that it is OK to abandon ones' responsibilities and family, as she does in "Pull of the Moon" (which I absolutely do not recommend either). Basically, the two daughters, Ginny and Sharla, have a lifetime of bitterness torward their mother for leaving them. As well they should. But then, lo and behold, they meet their mother again at the end and suddenly everything is forgiven, everything is OK. I think Ms. Berg may be trying to say that forgiveness is important, that no matter how much someone hurts you, you should still try to understand them and accept them. But unfortunately, there is not enough development in this story to make it fly. What also struck me as funny that at the end of the book, the mother is still beautiful, she is rich and living in California, and suddenly it is perfectly OK that she abandoned her responsibilities as a mother because she was successful. Suddenly her daughters accept her. Where, earlier in the book, the mother lives in a shabby apartment and the girls cannot accept her (granted, they are still kids at that point). I am simplifying a bit, but that's the notion that I got reading this book and what does that say? Money buys you forgiveness and happiness? I don't know. I'm giving this book two stars because E. Berg is a good writer and because I think she is trying to present themes of forgiveness. This book still serves as an OK quick read. Just be prepared to not agree with it.
Rating:
Summary: A Gentle Read
Review: Let me preface this by saying I really like Berg's style. I had the opportunity to hear her reading in Ft. Myers, Florida, and she has a lovely lulling voice and a truly soft and soothing aura. As to "What We Keep," I enjoyed the book, and probably would have enjoyed it even more if I could relate to 50s America, but being as I grew up mainly in England at a later time, I can't.
I felt that a family secret hinted at in earlier parts of the novel but not revealed until late in the text was not satisfactorily addressed by the three women. What did they actually feel about it? It should have had more impact. For 35 years, the two sisters harbor resentment toward their mother based in part on false assumptions. Now they are finally reunited and a slightly different spin is put on past events. Yet, before we know it, the protag is back on the plane and, after a lifetime of being misinformed and angry, seems all of a sudden very accepting of the actual situation.--Sophie Simonet, author of "Act of Love," Romantic Suspense (Fictionwise)
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