The Year of Pleasures: A Novel (Hardcover)

by Elizabeth Berg (Author) "I had been right to want to drive to the Midwest, taking only the back roads..." (more)
Key Phrases: Lydia Samuels, Betta Nolan, Elizabeth Berg (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The familiar protagonist of Berg's 13th novel (after The Art of Mending) is a Boston widow of several months, 55-year-old Betta Nolan, who fulfills her dying husband's dream of moving out to the Midwest and starting a new life. "It will give me peace to know that what you will do is exactly what we talked about," says John commandingly before dying of liver cancer; Betta, an author of children's books, sells their Beacon Hill brownstone and takes off, buying an oversized Victorian in the small town of Stewart, Ill., 49 miles from Chicago. Lonely, she finds herself tracking down three former college roommates from the late 1960s, Lorraine, Maddy and Susanna, whom she ditched once she met John. The women reappear one by one and help give her the courage to open a shop called What a Woman Wants (it'll sell "all different stuff that women loved. Beautiful things, but unusual too. Like antique birdcages with orchids growing in them"). Meanwhile, she begins to make friends in town, notably with attractive young handyman Matthew and natty oldster Tom Bartlett. Berg is a pro at putting together an affecting saga of interest to women of a certain age, yet here she seems to be writing in her sleep. There is little effort at cohesion—rather, a kind of serendipitous plot that goes every which way and a series of tentative, aborted romances. The impression readers will be left with is of a woman endlessly nurturing and rarely satisfied.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Bookmarks Magazine
Berg is a true women’s writer whose latest exploration of one woman’s joys and sorrows will not disappoint. Her 14th novel (after 2004’s The Art of Mending) asks how we can find personal connections and transform our lives. Unlike many novels, it actually provides satisfying, if slightly formulaic, answers. Critics agree that the characters, from a college student to Betta’s single-mom neighbor, stand out for their empathic, realistic portrayals. Berg’s poetic language and command of small details relating to character and scenery impressed critics as well. Yet Year of Pleasures may not be Berg’s best effort to date. A few reviewers criticized a relatively weak plot with its obvious message about love, life, and finding the pleasures in ordinary things—even if it’s all true.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1st edition (April 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400061601
• ISBN-13: 978-1400061600
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (120 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #440,878 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

96 of 106 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 Stars Isn't Enough For This Book!, April 6, 2005

By	Nancy R. Katz "NancyK18" (NJ) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Elizabeth Berg is one of my most treasured writers since I read her first book Talk Before Sleep. Each time I am about to begin her newest book I wonder if I will enjoy it as much as the book before her last one or the book before that one and so on. And each time I am almost never disappointed because each book is filled with wonderful characters and emotional sagas written from the heart. And once again I have fallen in love not only with this writer but her latest book The Year of Pleasures which features a main character on the brink of a new change in her life.

Betta Nolan is a fifty something woman who up until her husband's death enjoyed a good life. Madly in love with her husband, Betta lives in Boston where she enjoys an almost solitary profession as a writer of children's books. Able to travel and enjoy the companionship of her husband, both she and her husband, who was a psychiatrist, never thought their time would be cut so short when he became terminally ill. With no children or relatives and few friends, it is as if they lived unto themselves in the world around them. But life stood in their way and when Betta's husband realizes she will live out her days without him, he urges her to strike out and make a new life for herself elsewhere. So when her husband dies, Betta honors her promise to him and does exactly what he urged her to do. Locking the door of her home, she sets out in her car to find a new place to live in and to grow as a woman alone but hopefully never lonely. And in the first year of widowhood, with some bumps along the way, this is exactly what Betta does finding not only a home but friends and a business which is an inspiration not only to her but to other woman in the area.

The Year of Pleasures is one of those books like Pull of the Moon which reached out to me, took hold of me while I was reading it and will remain with me always. The emotions of losing a beloved husband and lifestyle and how one reacts is surely different for every woman who unfortunately experiences this event. And for Betta perhaps even more since the death of her loved one came at a time when life was somewhat winding down and plans for their golden years together was just around the corner. Although Betta wonders as many others do if there is ever a good time to lose a mate?

At first Berg provides readers with all of the grief one must go through at this time and then slowly shows us how people in this position must grieve and then move on to give a new meaning and purpose to their lives. While I think that perhaps there was a bit of coincidence and unreality about some of the events -- would one really leave all that they know so quickly, in Berg's more than capable hands, readers are given an adventure in how to give meaning to one's life alone and feel good about the next stage of their life as well. And so Betta experiences a year of pleasures despite that the circumstances never suggested this is what it would be when her husband first died.

Many years ago, I read Widow by Lynn Caine which told the true story Caine's story of being a young woman left with two small children when her husband dies. And more recently this year I read Home Away from Home by Lorna J. Cook where a younger childless woman was suddenly widowed and found for almost a year that she couldn't sleep at the home she shared with her now deceased husband. While both of these books wee excellent and insightful reads, there are emotions and passages from The Year of Pleasures which truly gibes the reader an undeniable sense of what it must be like and feel like to be a widow.

The Year of Pleasures now takes its place among my very favorite reads by Elizabeth Berg, which include The Pull of the Moon, Durable Goods, Joy School, True to Form and The Art of Mending, With The Year of Pleasures it is as if Berg has gone full circle in describing the stages of a woman's life. One can only hold the breath to see what she will write about in her next book.

I urge you to read this book and see if you don't fall madly in love with this author. Read it and see if her characters don't become friends of yours that you worry about and wonder how life is treating them now. Most of all revel in the writing which may find tears in your eyes or a smile on your face.

49 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, a truly beautiful novel for midlife women, May 3, 2005

By	C. L. Ferle (Midwest Reader and Writer) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

What a wonderfully written book, and near-perfect for anyone who suddenly finds herself past her 50th birthday and wondering what's next. While this tender novel is about dealing with grief and the loss of a beloved husband, it is also about change and reinventing yourself at midlife, no matter what your situation. It simply speaks volumes to anyone in this age group.

Elizabeth Berg is a sensitive and highly skilled writer who avoids falling prey to the ridiculous whims of commerical publishing. Berg refuses to season her story with gratuitous elements or outlandish situations. She relies instead on the poetry and gentle beauty of the ordinary. This is never easy to pull off in a novel -- yet this particular skill of Berg's brings true depth, intelligence, and a touch of domestic magic to "The Year of Pleasures."

After reading just a few pages of the novel, I found myself caring about the fate of the main character. It didn't take long for me to be pulled into her situation. I found myself asking, what would I do if I suddenly found myself in this character's shoes? Could I start over in a new place? I am so grateful that someone recommended this book, as I haven't had much luck finding a good novel centered around a middle-aged woman. I was very disappointed in the over-hyped "The Mermaid Chair," but this book rekindled my faith and made me grateful for Elizabeth Berg.

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too Perfect to be True, August 21, 2005

By	Patricia Caiozzo "Book Lover" (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I thouroughly enjoyed Berg's books, Talk Before Sleep and Open House, but The Year of Pleasures proved to be a disappointment. On the plus side, it is a short, very quick read, and if you like fairy tales where there is no bad witch or evil stepmother, this is the book for you. Betta is a widow, and that is inherently sad, but I truly believed that her husband John was going to turn out to be a figment of her imagination. He was UNBELIEVABLY perfect, and when humans can be cloned, we need to clone this guy and make him available to every woman in America. He sends her flowers from the grave and leaves very poetic, sensitive life-affirming and very personal cryptic messages for Betta in a china chest they both adored. Actually, they adored everything about each other; they were apparently the Stepford Couple. Miraculously, Betta does not have to concern herself with money when she is widowed, so really, the sky is the limit, as far as the fulfillment of her dreams go. I think many widows could find the happiness Betta does if they had no money concerns, memories of a super-perfect marriage to keep them warm, thirty year old friendships that suddenly re-blossom and help to make your dreams come true. This novel is NOT about hope; it is about a highly unlikely and unrealistic scenario for a widow who had a faultless and loving marriage, no money concerns, and the unbelievably good luck to find a dream Victorian to live in in a small town where everyone seems to know your name. What are the chances that anyone other than Betta could have a Benny next door or a twenty year old good-looking handyman who is just itching to begin a close friendship with a fifty year old woman? What are the chances that a Tom Bartlett, a good-looking widower, would just pop into your life less than three months after the death of your spouse? I would think that widows would read this and wonder why their lives don't seem to be as picture perfect as Betta's, but then again, no one's life is as perfect as Betta's.