Endings [Hardcover]

Barbara Bergin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2007

Following a tragic accident, Leslie Cohen, M.D. is driven to live the nomadic life of a locum tenens physician, moving from one temporary job to another, covering the practices of orthopedic surgeons while they take time off. Deeply affected because of her loss, this enables her to avoid forming relationships, both friendly and professional. And she is determined. But all of this changes when she agrees to a one month commitment in Abilene, Texas, temporarily taking over the practice of Hal Hawley while he goes on leave to have surgery for cancer. Soon after arriving she realizes her mistake in taking on an extended post as she develops a strong bond with Doc Hawley and his wife. Even more significant is the friend she finds in Regan Wakeman, a local rancher and contractor. There is conflict in her soul as Leslie tries to protect the memories she wants to keep alive no matter how painful they might be. As the relationship with him progresses, there is a gradual revelation of the tragedy that has remained her secret until now.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Barbara Bergin practices orthopedic surgery in Austin, Texas, where she resides with her husband and two children. She competes in reining, reined cow horse and cutting, and has been ranked nationally in the reined cow horse performance sport. She and her husband own a ranch in Smithville, Texas.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 268 pages
• Publisher: Sunstone Press; 1st edition (November 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0865345198
• ISBN-13: 978-0865345195
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,601,087 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beginnings and Endings, January 17, 2008

By 

Dr. H. P. Sullivan - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Endings (Hardcover)

Endings

Endings reminds us that a physician is capable of writing more than just prescriptions. This is a first - and one hopes, not last - effort by a Texas-based orthopedist, Barbara Bergin, who draws extensively upon her experience as a surgeon and as a championship horse rider. But while the practice of orthopedic medicine and the love of horses figure prominently in Endings this novel fundamentally has to do with the reality that lies beneath the superficies of our lives - a reality that encompasses the complexity of our human relationships, of love and loss, of matters present and past - of experiences which we may easily own and want to relive or which we may seek to escape. In short, Endings is a complex and challenging book..

The novel is also a love story - not a "romance" - but a story of love lost and love found, as ephemeral as that may ultimately prove to be. The protagonist, Leslie Cohen, an orthopedist who, through personal tragedy, has become a nomadic practitioner - a locum tenens - filling in here and there throughout the country when others go on vacation or medical leave (as is the case in the novel), literally accidentally meets (a collision on a wet Texas highway) an engaging rancher-cum-builder with whom she develops a relationship, in spite of herself. There is "love making" that is intimate in detail and convincing in passion - but without the kind of perfervid expression that often mars the depiction of sexual engagement in "romance" novels.

Leslie Cohen, as nomad, has entered into a journey - but it is a wandering both into the present and into the past. In some sense, she is at a stasis, stuck at a point in time, at which the past and present seem to fuse, beyond which she cannot pass. But is she stuck? Is there a present, and has there been a past? This is the ingenious point of the novel. It would be egregiously wrong for a reviewer to say more. It falls to the reader to get to the ending of Endings to understand and to plumb the depths of this narrative.

From a purely stylistic point of view, the author has a clear talent for creating in her central character a subject locus, a strong point of view, for the telling of a story that embraces in rich detail a broad canvas of the natural world (like Leslie Cohen's wondering about the destiny of vagrant scrapes of paper, wind-stuck on an Abilene fence) and of a shared humanity (as in Dr. Cohen's compassionate treatment of two "illegals" horribly injured while attempting to hop a freight train). While we are brought into the inner world of the protagonist, the narrative does not lapse into tedious introspection, and while we join with the protagonist in viewing her world and the people in it, the author does not fall into any kind of omniscient narration.

This is a novel that deserves many re-readings!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I LOVED ENDINGS!, February 4, 2008

By 

Mitchell S. Herring "Nancy Herring UT" (Smithville, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Endings (Hardcover)

AS a person who is not an avid reader,I was "hooked" on ENDINGS.AS I am acquainted with Dr. Bergin,I was able to travel through the process of publication with her in an exciting way. Her eyes lit up whenever she was discussing her book, and NOW I know why. ENDINGS is full of down-home charm. Abilene is described perfectly...dusty and windy.Since I don't read much,I'd read an hour or two,put the book down,start to do dishes or some other boring chore,look at the bookcover and became drawn into Leslie's soul again.I loved the characters,especially Doc and his wife.They just don't make them like that any more. The "hero" Regan was too good to be true...a gentleman in every way.He wore down Leslie's defences,but at the same time,Leslie brought out a side of Regan that he hadn't seen in years. This is not a syrupy relationship,but a beautiful one. Just as I was sure that I knew how this story would be one of those "happily ever-after ones" and it might still be...there came along the last part of the book,and I wonder about all the happenings that came racing back into my brain. Barbara was brilliant when she named her first novel,"ENDINGS". I need to start reading it again.:)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If we could control our destiny......, January 14, 2008

By 

Rachel Moyer (Shawnee on Del, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Endings (Hardcover)

Endings was an exceptional read for those of us who want to discover alternatives for what life had dealt us. The main character is all of us at one point of our lives because it offers escape from reality as we know it. The ending of the book is unexpected and leaves the reader not only surprised but with wishful and hopeful thoughts. Excellent story!