Synopses & Reviews
New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Berg takes us to Chicago at the time of World War II in this wonderful story about three sisters, their lively Irish family, and the men they love.
As the novel opens, Kitty and Louise Heaney say good-bye to their boyfriends Julian and Michael, who are going to fight overseas. On the domestic front, meat is rationed, children participate in metal drives, and Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller play songs that offer hope and lift spirits. And now the Heaney sisters sit at their kitchen table every evening to write letters-Louise to her fiancé, Kitty to the man she wishes fervently would propose, and Tish to an ever-changing group of men she meets at USO dances. In the letters the sisters send and receive are intimate glimpses of life both on the battlefront and at home. For Kitty, a confident, headstrong young woman, the departure of her boyfriend and the lessons she learns about love, resilience, and war will bring a surprise and a secret, and will lead her to a radical action for those she loves. The lifelong consequences of the choices the Heaney sisters make are at the heart of this superb novel about the power of love and the enduring strength of family.
From the Hardcover edition.
About the Author
Elizabeth Berg is the
New York Times bestselling author of many novels, including
We Are All Welcome Here, The Year of Pleasures, The Art of Mending, Say When, True to Form, Never Change, and
Open House, which was an Oprahs Book Club selection in 2000.
Durable Goods and
Joy School were selected as ALA Best Books of the Year, and
Talk Before Sleep was short-listed for the ABBY Award in 1996. The winner of the 1997 New England Booksellers Award for her body of work, Berg is also the author of a nonfiction work,
Escaping into the Open: The Art of Writing True. She lives in Chicago.
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From the Hardcover edition.
Reading Group Guide
1. Elizabeth Berg titles
Dream When Youre Feeling Blue after a Johnny Mercer song, and the popular culture of the 1940s is referenced throughout the novel. Can you find some descriptions of the popular culture of the day? How does the title enhance or complement the narrative?
2. The discombobulation and strangeness of the wartime era are fore-grounded throughout the story, often in counterpoint to the normalcy of the Heaneys everyday life. Can you find some examples?
3. Kittys love for Louise “made her her best self.” (p. 180) Many different kinds of love are depicted in the novel. What kind of love do you think makes each character his or her best self?
4. “Its not the ring that makes you engaged. Its the promise,” Louise says (p. 21), and the novel examines the difference between symbols and the realities theyre believed to represent. Which symbols in the book accurately represent reality? Which do not?
5. “If you werent engaged you were nothing” (p. 27) is the message Kitty has seen in advertisements all around her. What differences in gender roles and expectations did you notice between the forties and today?
6. Kitty never marries or has children of her own. Do you think it is fair to say that her real “children” are her sisters and brothers? Why or why not? Do you think Kitty is happy with her life at the end?
7. Visions and premonitions play an important role in the novel. Can you find some examples of premonitory visions or dreams? How do they shape the narrative?
8. “Kitty and her sisters had always looked down on girls who got pregnant out of wedlock, on those who had relations outside of marriage” (p. 164), but Margaret defends Louise, saying that “her terrible crime was to show love to her fiancé.” (p. 180) Do you think Louise and Michael make the right decision?
9. Throughout the novel, the role of deceit-often well-meaning or by omission-is highlighted as an unavoidable aspect of family life. Think of some instances of deceit in the novel, then discuss. Were the consequences positive or negative?
10. The Heaneys are devout Catholics, and each of them struggles with the moral ambiguities of war. In particular, how do Kitty, Tommy, Margaret, and Frank come to terms with this issue? How does Hank influence Kittys opinions? Which characters ideas are the most compelling to you?
11. In your opinion, was Frank Heaney a good father? Why or why not?
12. The family always said, “If one Heaney girl loved you, the three of them did. And if you loved one Heaney girl, you loved them all.”(p. 211) What do you think of Kittys sacrifice? Did she make the right decision for herself? For Louise? For Hank? Do you think Julian and Tish were happy together in the long run?
1. Elizabeth Berg titles
Dream When Youre Feeling Blue after a Johnny Mercer song, and the popular culture of the 1940s is referenced throughout the novel. Can you find some descriptions of the popular culture of the day? How does the title enhance or complement the narrative?
2. The discombobulation and strangeness of the wartime era are fore-grounded throughout the story, often in counterpoint to the normalcy of the Heaneys everyday life. Can you find some examples?
3. Kittys love for Louise “made her her best self.” (p. 180) Many different kinds of love are depicted in the novel. What kind of love do you think makes each character his or her best self?
4. “Its not the ring that makes you engaged. Its the promise,” Louise says (p. 21), and the novel examines the difference between symbols and the realities theyre believed to represent. Which symbols in the book accurately represent reality? Which do not?
5. “If you werent engaged you were nothing” (p. 27) is the message Kitty has seen in advertisements all around her. What differences in gender roles and expectations did you notice between the forties and today?
6. Kitty never marries or has children of her own. Do you think it is fair to say that her real “children” are her sisters and brothers? Why or why not? Do you think Kitty is happy with her life at the end?
7. Visions and premonitions play an important role in the novel. Can you find some examples of premonitory visions or dreams? How do they shape the narrative?
8. “Kitty and her sisters had always looked down on girls who got pregnant out of wedlock, on those who had relations outside of marriage” (p. 164), but Margaret defends Louise, saying that “her terrible crime was to show love to her fiancé.” (p. 180) Do you think Louise and Michael make the right decision?
9. Throughout the novel, the role of deceit–often well-meaning or by omission–is highlighted as an unavoidable aspect of family life. Think of some instances of deceit in the novel, then discuss. Were the consequences positive or negative?
10. The Heaneys are devout Catholics, and each of them struggles with the moral ambiguities of war. In particular, how do Kitty, Tommy, Margaret, and Frank come to terms with this issue? How does Hank influence Kittys opinions? Which characters ideas are the most compelling to you?
11. In your opinion, was Frank Heaney a good father? Why or why not?
12. The family always said, “If one Heaney girl loved you, the three of them did. And if you loved one Heaney girl, you loved them all.”(p. 211) What do you think of Kittys sacrifice? Did she make the right decision for herself? For Louise? For Hank? Do you think Julian and Tish were happy together in the long run?