“What if you could listen in on any phone conversation in town? With great humor and insight, The Operator by Gretchen Berg delivers a vivid look inside the heads and hearts of a group of housewives and pokes at the absurdities of 1950s America, a simpler time that was far from simple. Think The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in the suburbs with delicious turns of jealousy, infidelity, bigotry, and … infidelity, bigotry, and embezzlement thrown in for good measure. The Operator is irresistible!” —Kathryn Stockett, author of the New York Times bestselling novel The Help
A clever, surprising, and ultimately moving debut novel, set in a small Midwestern town in the early 1950s, about a nosy switchboard operator who overhears gossip involving her own family, and the unraveling that discovery sets into motion.
In a small town, everyone knows everyone else’s business . . .
Nobody knows the people of Wooster, Ohio, better than switchboard operator Vivian Dalton, and she’d be the first to tell you that. She calls it intuition. Her teenage daughter, Charlotte, calls it eavesdropping.
Vivian and the other women who work at Bell on East Liberty Street connect lines and lives. They aren’t supposed to listen in on conversations, but they do, and they all have opinions on what they hear—especially Vivian. She knows that Mrs. Butler’s ungrateful daughter, Maxine, still hasn’t thanked her mother for the quilt she made, and that Ginny Frazier turned down yet another invitation to go to the A&W with Clyde Walsh.
Then, one cold December night, Vivian listens in on a call between that snob Betty Miller and someone whose voice she can’t quite place and hears something shocking. Betty Miller’s mystery friend has news that, if true, will shatter Vivian’s tidy life in Wooster, humiliating her and making her the laughingstock of the town.
Vivian may be mortified, but she isn’t going to take this lying down. She’s going to get to the bottom of that rumor—get into it, get under it, poke around in the corners. Find every last bit. Vivian wants the truth, no matter how painful it may be.
But as Vivian is about to be reminded, in a small town like Wooster, one secret usually leads to another. . . .
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“The Operator” by Gretchen Berg tells the story of Vivian, a switchboard operator in 1950s Ohio. I found Vivian to be an engaging and likeable character. Yes, she is a born eavesdropper and snoop. But she is also a resilient, focused, loving, capable woman, albeit one with a few flaws. I loved learning more about small-town life in the 50s, and about what it was like to work for a switchboard company in the days before private lines and cell phones.
The story itself was a good one. Vivian overhears something while eavesdropping, and has to try to figure out what is really going on. The story is made more engaging by the fact that the reader doesn’t know exactly what Vivian heard for quite some time, and is trying to solve the mystery right along with Vivian.
The book also shines through the depiction of the characters. In addition to Vivian, several minor characters were very intriguing. My favorites were Charlotte, Flora, and (in a love-to-hate way), Betty. In fact, I’d love to read more about the town of Wooster to see how the other characters’ stories play out.
I loved the way a couple of seemingly unconnected events and storylines played into the overall plot. The author has a true talent for making a small town come to life in a very realistic way, and I look forward to reading more from Ms. Berg. Bravo to this first-time author!
Five out of five yummy bites of Gouda!
What if you could listen in on any phone conversation in town? With great humor and insight, The Operator by Gretchen Berg delivers a vivid look inside the heads and hearts of a group of housewives and pokes at the absurdities of 1950s America, a simpler time that was far from simple. Think The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in the suburbs with delicious turns of jealousy, infidelity, bigotry, and embezzlement thrown in for good measure. The Operator is irresistible!
The book could have been better. The usage of “GD” throughout the book was unnecessary. Respectable women in the 1950’s would not have used that word. I am not even sure a sailor would have used it as many times as it was used. I was very disappointed in the book.
The Operator by Gretchen Berg is a lighthearted historical novel about gossip, eavesdropping and scandal. Vivian Dalton works as a telephone operator at Ohio Bell. She began eavesdropping on conversations at an earlier age and working at the telephone company allowed her to continue this hobby. Late one December evening, Vivian overhears a conversation between the hoity toity Betty Miller and a stranger. The stranger tells Betty a secret about Vivian’s family which, if it gets out, will embarrass Vivian. After getting over her anger, Vivian sets out to learn if the information is accurate. While the story plays out in the present, we get to learn about Vivian’s growing up years and her relationship with her family. We also learn about Betty Miller’s family and the robbery of the bank managed by Betty’s father, J. Ellis Reed. This side story does not make sense until the end of the book. I had a hard time getting into The Operator. The first chapter did not pull me in (it was a turn off). I found The Operator easier to read as I got further into the story. I also think I had trouble because it is hard to like the main character (or any of them for that matter). I felt the author captured the time period with the fashions, vehicles, the language, and events. I like how Gretchen Berg included Orson Welles’s “War of the Worlds’ Martian invasion broadcast. She captured the panic it created beautifully. I did feel The Operator was too long. It could have benefited from some judicious editing. This is Gretchen Berg’s debut novel which is loosely based on her grandmother (author’s note at end explains about newspaper articles and poems included). There are some recipes included in The Operator. The Operator is a blithe story about rampant rumormongering, endless eavesdropping, superior standards, and harmful hearsay.
Vivian Dalton is a switchboard operator who often hears things that she shouldn’t, she knows it goes against the rules to listen to patrons phone conversations, but that doesn’t keep her from doing it. It’s just a little harmless town gossip.
Then one day a call comes through and she happens to hear some things about a family secret that she was never meant to know, and suddenly her listening in doesn’t seem so innocent after all.
The Operator gives you a glimpse into the life of a 1950’s phone operator Vivian Dalton, her job affords her the opportunity to listen in on the latest town gossip, even though she has been warned not too. It’s evident that Vivian knows what she is doing is wrong, but her little habit becomes a lot more addictive than she expected it too, and it lands her in a place she never considered. Watching her habit unravel was quite entertaining, at times her adventure brought humor to the pages, and other times it brought a bit of suspense and emotional drama too… it was a nice well rounded story. I’ve got to say I really enjoyed this first time read, it words kept my eyes glued to the pages from beginning to end! Highly recommend!
I requested an advanced copy of this title from the publisher, and I am voluntarily leaving my honest opinion.
The Operator by Gretchen Berg was mostly the musings of a woman dissatisfied with her life, her job as a telephone operator, and with her marriage. There were several story threads in the book and there were some surprises along the way. If you love stories about unhappy people in small towns, this is the book for you. I found it depressing and kind of a waste of time, if you want to know the truth.
Vivian grew up in the 1950s and had to leave school after eighth grade in order to help support her family. He parents were an odd match of a semi-depressed German mother and an Irish father who drank too much, but was a loving father. She eventually married a nice guy who was interested in a traditional small town life and they moved away for his job. After a few years they came back home and Vivian went back to being a phone operator. She was full of envy directed at people she took to be her betters and her main pastime was listening in on phone calls and collecting gossip, until one day the gossip was about her and her marriage.
I received a free ARC of The Operator from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions and interpretations contained herein are solely my own . #theoperator #netgalley
Great novel with believable dialogue
I couldn’t finish it. Not my cup of tea.
“the Operator” by Gretchen Berg begins in December 1952 in Wooster, Ohio as Vivian Dalton is walking to work for her shift as a telephone switchboard operator. Operators aren’t supposed to eavesdrop on calls but they do and know a lot of what goes on in their town. On her way, Vivian mentally scrolls through a long list of people and some of the things she knows about them. Vivian lists off so many people that it is impossible to know who among them will figure into this story. The one exception to this is the town snob, Betty Miller. Betty, thinks she is well above the fray and takes great pains to put others in their place – especially Vivian.
The book takes place mostly in 1952/53 but also goes back to 1924, 1931 and 1937/38. After the initial introduction of those years, any further backtracking is only indicated as you read the first sentence or two of a new chapter which can be confusing.
For the most part the book focuses on two main stories and one sub plot but they do overlap at times. I found it difficult to really cheer for any of the characters but the overall story does come to a rather satisfactory conclusion – it just takes an incredibly tedious, long wordy road to get there. Though apparently very loosely based on a true story, this 342 page book would have benefitted greatly from heavy editing. As it is, the best I can give this is a 2 of 5 stars.
This book held my interest. I couldn’t determine if the main character was being melodramatic or if she had a legitimate gripe. As the story unfolded, I remembered the time frame it was taking place and realized things were different at that time. Overall, I wanted to finish it. It was a good read.
This was a great story. Vivian, Edward and their daughter Charlette, live in a small town in early 1950. Vivian is a phone operator who “accidently” listens in on calls. That is until she overhears a call that will turn her life and the town upside down. There were times I was crying with Vivian and times I could feel the anger rise up in me. The little phrases had me remembering my own childhood. I loved every word.
Frankly it was a complete disappointment…I had to force myself to even finish it!
I purchased this book because of the title. At one time I was a 0 telephone operator and later on a 411 information operator. This is true to life in regards to how operators were. I loved the story of all the characters interwoven into this book. Complex and quirky characters, lots of twists and turns around families in this story that grabbed at my heart! This book made me cry, laugh and feel everything the characters felt. I could not put the book down and it is a must read! A purely wonderful, pleasurable read and I recommend it highly! Thank you Gretchen Berg for writing this wonderful book!
I barely got through the first chapter. Too much negative feelings and gossip for me.
This isn’t my normal reading style, but this book was such a great read! I loved the past setting and all of the gossip. I absolutely loved that all of the side stories came all into one and everything came full circle for the ending. This was such a quick entertaining read and I’m so glad I read it!
This was so much more than I expected. The main character was complex (I didn’t even like her at one point) and the story took surprising turns. I love it when an author drops a nugget or two early on in the story and it turns up later as a very important part of the plot. This novel wasn’t the breezy read I thought it was going to be. It turned out to be cleverly sewn together and I certainly hope Ms. Berg is busy writing another novel.
Juvenile and gossipy.
I knew I was going to love this book from the time I read what it was about! The Operator is the first book by Gretchen Berg and it was wonderful! While it’s different to have the main character be unlikeable (in my opinion), I did understand where Vivian was coming from and think it gave her the strength to deal with the bumps in the road. The secondary storyline about the bank theft and how that relates to another character is a great idea and gives the storyline more depth as does Charlotte’s storyline. The Operator was a great read and I’m looking forward to what comes next from this author. Thank you Netgalley and Book Club Girls for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
I was excited when I was chosen to review an early copy of this book, because it sounded great from the plot description. I was not disappointed! Vivian is a great main character, with good points and not-so-good points, but she is very realistic, and I think is a good example of what a woman during her time and in her position would be like. I enjoyed reading about the 1950s, and how telephone switchboards worked back then.
The story was great! It kept me guessing what Vivian’s secret was, and I couldn’t stop reading until I got to the part where it was revealed. Even after that, I kept reading to see what Vivian would do about it. I thought she showed great spirit and presence of mind in dealing with the situation.
I would love to read a spin-off book about Flora and Gilbert…they were great minor characters, and I’d enjoy learning more about them.
my older sister was an operator for Ma Bell. I remember the switchboard with fascination. Entertaining.