{ "item_title" : "The Art of Mending", "item_author" : [" Elizabeth Berg "], "item_description" : "It begins with the sudden revelation of astonishing secrets--secrets that have shaped the personalities and fates of three siblings, and now threaten to tear them apart. In renowned author Elizabeth Berg's moving new novel, unearthed truths force one seemingly ordinary family to reexamine their disparate lives and to ask themselves: Is it too late to mend the hurts of the past?Laura Bartone anticipates her annual family reunion in Minnesota with a mixture of excitement and wariness. Yet this year's gathering will prove to be much more trying than either she or her siblings imagined. As soon as she arrives, Laura realizes that something is not right with her sister. Forever wrapped up in events of long ago, Caroline is the family's restless black sheep. When Caroline confronts Laura and their brother, Steve, with devastating allegations about their mother, the three have a difficult time reconciling their varying experiences in the same house. But a sudden misfortune will lead them all to face the past, their own culpability, and their common need for love and forgiveness.Readers have come to love Elizabeth Berg for the lucent beauty of ?her? prose, the verity of her insights, and the tenderness of her regard for her fellow human (Booklist). In The Art of Mending, her most profound and emotionally satisfying novel to date, she confronts some of the deepest mysteries of life, as she explores how even the largest sins can be forgiven by the smallest gestures, and how grace can come to many through the trials of one. ", "item_img_path" : "https://covers3.booksamillion.com/covers/bam/0/81/297/098/0812970985_b.jpg", "price_data" : { "retail_price" : "20.00", "online_price" : "20.00", "our_price" : "20.00", "club_price" : "20.00", "savings_pct" : "0", "savings_amt" : "0.00", "club_savings_pct" : "0", "club_savings_amt" : "0.00", "discount_pct" : "10", "store_price" : "" } }

Overview

Customers Also Bought

Details

In The Art of Mending, best-selling author Elizabeth Berg presents a fascinating domestic drama that is filled with tension, wisdom and the kind of priceless insight that seems to come from first-hand experience. In her mid-50s, Laura Bartone is a talented quilt maker, contentedly married and a mother of two. The tranquility of her days is disrupted when her sister Caroline, encouraged by a therapist, reveals troubling information about their parents. According to Caroline, she was abused, both physically and verbally, by their mother. But is she telling the truth? Caroline is the family's wayward member, and she has a tendency to over-dramatize events. Yet she is clearly troubled by the past, and her version of what transpired during their childhood transforms Laura's own perceptions of those years. Added to this potent emotional mix is the death of their father from a stroke. How Laura copes with these midlife revelations makes for a smart, sympathetic narrative. Berg, whose novel Open House was an Oprah's Book Club selection in 2000, knows how to write about delicate subjects and construct a poignant plot without succumbing to melodrama. Filled with convincing detail and true-to-life dialogue, her latest is a powerful story about forgiveness, healing and family. A reading group guide is included in the book.