NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Revelations about a seemingly ordinary mother force her adult children to reexamine their lives in this “absorbing novel about family secrets” (The Dallas Morning News). 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 … 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.
BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Elizabeth Berg’s Once Upon a Time, There Was You.
more
A realistic story of family and parent-child, sibling-sibling relationships…there is healing in the way Berg tells the story. Sometimes we give up on relationships too soon. This book is a reminder to lean in, even when its uncomfortable.
Elizabeth Berg makes the characters so believable and relatable. She also offers hope and a belief in the possibility of mending broken relatiomships.
Good story about complicated family dynamics and how each family member has their own unique perspective about their family.
This is a very believable story about a family with 3 siblings in a typical dysfunctional family. The book is written in such a way that the reader must decide if love or anger prevails at the end of the day!
Great storytelling. Great character development and portrayals.
Somewhat dark. Family secrets are always difficult.
The story line was very thought provoking and the characters were realistic. I just thought it ended too soon, there should have been more closure.
Great human interest and family and loved one lessons. Very well written
Very good. Read anything by this author!
This is a very average book. The story is not particularly compelling and the characters were not very interesting.
Enjoyed reading
I always love Elizabeth Berg but felt a bit abandoned at the ending, although isn’t that just reality? Not finished whether with a bow or sorrow, it is really open ended.
Elizabeth Berg always delivers a page turner that is easy to read and just flows along like conversation with a friend.
She is one of my favorite authors
This book offers a view of what it must be like to grow up in a family where not all the children are loved or treated the same. How many families have a ‘difficult’ child? And where does that difficulty come from? The author provides the characters an opportunity to really see their sister and their family in a new and more realistic way.
Sad… family dynamic is twisted.
I’m a big fan of Elizabeth Berg and this book did not disappoint! Highly recommend.
Elizabeth Berg is a fabulous writer. Her characters come alive on the page. This is a richly and beautifully woven story of family love, loss, and tragedy played out through the traditions that bring families together. I could not put it down, and read it in less than two days.
A heartfelt book about a dysfunctional family trying to mend itself after a tragedy. Made me think about my own family and how hard it is to see beyond my own perspective.
One of my all-time favorite authors – hard to pick my favorite book of hers. Just lovely.