Customer Reviews

Never Change

5 star:		(69)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

...they'll stay with you long after. By the time you finish reading Never Change, you'll have a hard time remembering that Myra and her patient were just characters in a book. Berg makes them so real. She is a keen observer of oh so many little details--nuances that she picks up observing the patterns of everyday life. One can't help but wonder if the movie rights will follow soon? Seems this story would come to life on the screen--Myra, a caring, funny heroine who only appears to be self-assured. As a visiting nurse, her daily rounds include a delightful collection of patients that feel as real as your own funny old aunt or kibbitzing neighbor, or scared teenage mother you might know. When Myra takes on a new patient, a former high school crush of hers who is now 51 and dying of a brain tumor, Berg does what she does so well--any women will identify with the feelings, the humor, the insecurity that come pouring out. My only complaint is the story is too short. I read it in one night, savoring each page, and I didn't want it to end. Myra is someone I would like to have as a friend. Elizabeth Berg is wonderful!! After so many of the passages I read, I found myself smiling and nodding in agreement. She is so gifted when it comes to expressing what REAL women feel! I rated this book 5 stars only because the scale does not go to 6.

Even as a child Myra Lipinsky had no friends and failed to connect with anyone. She sold the tickets to the prom, but no male asked her to go with him. As an adult, she had become a visiting nurse. Her occupation is her only satisfaction as she is content with her solitary status especially since her dog Frank provides her with companionship.

At fifty-one, her high school secret crush Chip Reardon returns into her life when he is dying from an inoperable brain tumor. Chip refuses to accept chemo or radiation that will grant him a few more months to live, but at a dramatically reduced style of life. Chip moves into Myra's home where he teaches her to live and she teaches him to love.

Elizabeth Berg has written a beautiful and poignant love story centering on a person accepting his fate and living what time he has left in life to the fullest. Chip's gift to Myra is helping her to open up to her feelings even as she provides him with the nurturing and the support he needs at the end. NEVER CHANGE is a five-tissue box novel, for the tears that flow not out of sorrow, but out of living. Elizabeth berg has written one of the most dramatic and beautiful books of her career, one that celebrates life to the fullest despite the death sentence hanging over the hero's head.

Harriet Klausner

Elizabeth Berg has given us another lovely and moving story, that of Myra Lipinsky, a 51-year-old visiting nurse in Boston who has never married and never really even had a good friend. My heart ached for this woman, to have never known the joy of having a buddy whom she could talk to, be with, confide in. Myra had never been asked on a date, never asked to go shopping with the girls or to a movie or a dance. People liked her and talked to her--they just did not become her friends. Yet she did not ask for pity. Her best friend is her dog, Frank, but Myra seems very satisfied with her life, her patients, her house, her routine, and her Porsche Carrera 911.

Myra's patients provide us with a cast of characters who are similar to those in an Anne Tyler book--odd, quirky, and likable despite their flaws. They have become Myra's "family" and friends. She said that she became a nurse because "I knew it would be a good way for people to love me. And for me to love them too."

Into Myra's life comes Chip Reardon, her high school love (unbeknownst to him) and every girl's dream boy, who has returned home to his parents' house in their small home town, ill with an end-stage brain tumor. She is assigned as the nurse to his case and says something so sad: "You know something bad about me? I thought only one thing. I thought, Good. Now I can have him." How she and Chip arrive at a different kind of loving relationship is a wonderful story as only Elizabeth Berg can tell it.

The writing in this book is graceful and lyrical. The author is a former nurse herself and although she did not practice nursing very long, she is obviously an astute observer of people as she seems to get them just right. Myra's dealings with her patients is just right too--she coddles those who need it and forces others into making choices and decisions. This is a serious book about a serious subject, but as presented by Berg, it is not too heavy-handed.

The title of the book is an oft-written sentiment in high school yearbooks. Berg writes "...never change. As though it were a choice. As though one of our greatest lessons isn't that change is the only constant. The seasons tell us, everything in organic life tells us, that there is no holding on; still, we try to do just that. Sometimes, though, we learn the kind of wisdom that celebrates the open hand. Then we know that letting go of everything is the only way to keep the things that matter most."

Elizabeth Berg has done it again. She has given us a story with characters that feel so real, and insights so valid, they go straight to the heart of anyone who is lucky enough to pick up her book. Her greatest strength lies in her observation of the ordinary details of living. She is nothing short of a master as the words and thoughts flow effortlessly across the page.

Myra is a 51 year old Registered Nurse who works for a home care agency. Her new patient just happens to be Chip Reardon, a popular boy she loved from afar in high school, who has come home to die. Myra has been aloof all of her life, a wallflower, the watcher and never the center of life as it goes on around her. She is about to learn a very important lesson as she walks through the drama her life will become. Berg has added a few unexpected twists that keep us wondering till the end, leaving us for a time with a story that can go two ways. A wonderful book not soon forgotten. Another intuitive and embracing selection by Berg is PULL OF THE MOON. Kelsana 6/19/20

I was a little nervous about reading "Never Change" after reading the blurb on the book. I wasn't sure I was in the mood for another "terminal illness love story". Once I started, though, I got really wrapped up into the characters. I liked Myra, the narrator, a lot. Yes, she is alone at 52, but she's not sitting around pining her life away. She's made a great life for herself, and when Chip, the subject of her biggest high school crush, comes back into her life, everything gets shaken up. One of the things I liked best about this book was how well defined the characters were. They seem like real people. Yeah, Myra is tough, intelligent, and funny, but she is also selfish and petty...just like a real person! And every person Myra comes in contact with, whether it's Chip or her other patients, including a teenage mom, a ..dealer, and a woman with alzheimer's, has something to teach Myra about life. Another great thing about this book was the suspenseful ending. This is a terrific book and not at all maudlin. There are life lessons that anyone could learn from this book. I loved it!

Film and stage actress Maryann Plunkett is a splendid choice to read Elizabeth Berg's latest novel, "Never Change." Once again Ms. Berg adroitly offers a less than sanguine protagonist who's getting along by getting along.

Myra Lipsinsky is 51, unmarried, and convinced she never will be. She has devoted herself to her career as a visiting nurse, and to the care and well being of her dog, Frank. Myra describes her youthful self as "the one everybody liked but no one wanted to be with." Things haven't changed much over the years - that is until Chip Reardon, the love of Myra's life in high school, returns to town.

But Chip has come back home for a tragic reason - he is dying, and Myra becomes his nurse.

Skillful author that she is Ms. Berg paints their relationship with insight and depth. This is a story well worth the listening.

I've been following Elizabeth Berg's career for a while now. TALK BEFORE SLEEP was wonderful and I liked OPEN HOUSE. I was concerned that Berg would fall into the abyss with other 'Oprah Authors', but Berg has delivered one of her very best efforts with NEVER CHANGE.

Berg has a special knack of getting into the very marrow of her character's bones. This story centers around a Myra and Chip....nurse and patient...wallflower and high school stud....man and woman.... Myra was never popular in school, never connected with anyone. Chip was Mr. Everything and seemed to have it all. Chip's now come home to die and Myra is his visiting nurse.

Elizabeth Berg writes about real people, warts and all. This book will warm your heart while breaking it. Only one other book (BRIDGE OF BIRDS) in recent memory has evoked tears. It's that good.

Buy this book and settle in for a wonderful story, well told.

Enjoy!

This new book by Elizabeth Berg is written in her easy style. It kept me up late into the night this past Saturday (I started it at around 10:00 PM - finished by 12:30 AM). It moves quickly, and is both funny and sad at times. Myra is an unmarried woman in her early fifties who has established a life working as a nurse. She discovers herself (perhaps for the first time in her life) when she renews a relationship with a former high school friend, Chip, who is now her patient dying of cancer. Facing his own mortality, Chip shows Myra her worth as both a friend and as a woman. The story is touching - and it has popped into my mind several times since I finished it. Although not quite a literary masterpiece, it is a thought provoking read.

When Elizabeth Berg was born, the GoodBook Fairy whispered in her ear, " You will have a special gift. You will write wonderful books to enrich people's lives."

I know this is true, because I have just finished NEVER CHANGE.

This is a book obviously written with great care. It teachs us, with great good humor, and enormous compassion, some hard to face truths about life and death.That all of us, every day, need to let those around us know that we value them. That people don't always see us as we see ourselves, and that sometimes we need to take that second look at others. Life is not always as we imagine it to be.

If you've gotten this far reading the reviews, you already know the storyline. I will just say this is one of the funniest, most tender, most moving books I have ever read. There is not one character that could be given up, or improved upon. Not one situation that doesn't ring true.

Heartwarming is so overused, but in this case, it is a truly deserved accolade. It took nearly an entire box of tissues to get through this beautiful, unforgettable book, but almost every time I turned a page, I was able to laugh through my tears. You know, like real life.

We who love to read are so fortunate to have Elizabeth Berg sharing her extraordinary gift with us. But those who have this author in their life as a nurse, friend, or loved one, must be truly blessed.

Every Berg novel has been outstanding, but, in my opinion, this is her best one yet. NEVER CHANGE is an exceptional book. That true "reading experience" that doesn't happen often. Don't miss it.

I didn't believe that I could readily accept a 50+ heroine. I like to identify, even in a remote way, with the heroines in the novels I read, but how could I identify with Elizabeth Berg's heroines?

So, I never purchased any of Amazon's Berg recommendations.

Recently I was on vacation and the rental where I stayed had Never Change on its shelf. I shrugged my shoulders and began to read. Immediately I was captured by Berg's writing. Her writing is exquisite; her prose is rhythmic and layered with detail. She interlaces seemingly insignificant details among important until the reader acknowledges that the insignificant is as important as the "important."

I was captured by the love story of Myra and Chip. Myra is not your average romantic heroine. For years, she has steadfastly avoided romance and friendships believing, however misplaced, that her unattractiveness was of more importance than anything inside that she might have to offer. Tears swelled in my eyes as I read the passage in which Chip proves to Myra how her patients regard her, despite her stubborn feelings of inadequacy. And, I clung to the book, turned page after page, wondering what Myra's ultimate decision would be regarding her future.

If you're a reader seeking good literature, who feels that many writers are throwing plot-driven drivel at you, take in Never Change. I promise you won't be disappointed. I know I wasn't.