The Art of Mending by Elizabeth Berg

In October 2006 the Jarrettsville book group, Novel Ideas read and discussed The Art of Mending by Elizabeth Berg.

This is what Publishers Weekly said about the plot:

"Bestselling novelist Berg (Talk Before Sleep; Open House ) explores memory, love and forgiveness in her flawed but moving 12th novel. At her annual family reunion, Laura Bartone, a 50-something "quilt artist," is forced to confront the secrets that have long haunted her family. Her emotionally unstable sister, Caroline, tells Laura and their brother, Steve, that their mother abused her as a child. As Laura and Steve-whose own childhoods were reasonably happy-struggle to make sense of Caroline's accusations and wonder how they could've been oblivious to or complicit in what happened, their father dies."

Families and the complicated dynamics between their different members make wonderful subjects for literary fiction. In a novel some sort of conflict or crisis is necessary to drive the plot and to illustrate the universal dilemmas of life. Most families have conflict big or small built right into them! Though the fictional family conflicts in novels may be more extreme than we experience ourselves, many readers empathise with the characters and enjoy finding out how they resolve their dilemmas and crises. These kinds of books have lots of food for thought and make ideal book group titles. As the reviewer says, "Berg has written a nuanced account of a family's implosion, with enough ambiguity and drama to give book clubs-the book's likely audience-"plenty to discuss and to keep any reader intrigued, right up to the fittingly redemptive ending."

I would be very interested to know what participants in the discussion last October thought about the siblings' differing remembrances of their childhood. What could have caused that disconnect, and have you ever in your own life experienced a similar difference of perception? Is this difference of perception believable in the book?

Did book group members agree that the ending was "fittingly redemptive?" Please add your comments: they might help someone else decide to read the book.

For people who haven't read the book yet, here are some things you might consider when you do:

Do you think the piecing of the dark and light parts of the quilt works as a metaphor for the building of a shared family memory?

Do you agree with reviewers that Berg's insights are "penetrating" and that her characters are "carefully made real?"

If you would like to share insights and ideas on books with a group in real time, why not attend a meeting of the Novel Ideas Group?

The Group meets the fourth Monday of each month at the Jarrettsville Library from
10:30 am to Noon. For more information please contact the Jarrettsville Library at
(410) 692-7887. The moderator is Douglas Hess.