Dream When You're Feeling Blue: A Novel
Author(s):
Elizabeth Berg
Label: Ballantine Books
Publisher(s):
Ballantine Books
Studio: Ballantine Books
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
Binding: Paperback
List Price: $14.00
Our Price: $11.20
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Editorial Reviews
Product Description
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.
Customer Reviews
Sweet nostalgia!
A return to a simpilier time. . . . It does seem simple on the service: the references to movie stars of the time, hair styles, food, speech, etc., but actually...things were extremely hectic. A horrible war was going on. Boys left for the war and it was not known if they would return. The family were left to worry, write letters of encouragement, and wait.
I enjoyed reading that the Heaney family was so close. Their warmth seemed to keep the members of the family together. Their closeness acted like a buffer to the realities that they had to face: life in wartime. What with rationing, war posters (even Mickey and Donald got in the act), and feelings of fear (will he make it home alive) it was nice to read that the family kept together and were there for each other.
At first, the ending did seem a bit hasty, but then it made sense. The relationship between Kitty and Hank seems to be dissolving in previous chapters. He wants a stay-at-home wife and she has tasted independence- so the conflict begins here. He is more suited for Louise. Afterall, a cookie-cutter ending (where Hank marries Kitty) would really not make sense and would be so ho-hum (boring). I thought it was so refreshing and creative.
I did love this book-couldn't wait to see how everything turned out. I would recommend this book. The school reunion at the end was fantastic.
Authors shouldn't narrate their own books
I enjoyed The Art of Mending by Elizabeth Berg so much that I rushed out to get audiobook versions of some of her other work. Why do authors read their own material? It never works. I couldn't get through the first CD. A thin voice. Irritating. Grating, in fact. Especially after the creamy richness of listening to Jill Tanner's narration in Atonement.
Publishers should discourage authors from reading their own work, much the same way movie studios discourage them from writing screenplay adaptations of their books. It's another art form. Leave the narration to the vocal performers.
You might have a different experience with the written word, but I don't recommend the audio version.
I actually returned this one.
I bought the book, read it quickly, then returned it to the store for a full refund. I don't usually do that, but even paperbacks cost a fair amount of cash now and my shelf space is at a premium, and frankly I didn't want to waste either one on this piece of trite garbage. The story was very strange, with characters being built up, then acting out of character, and it seemed to be an excuse to try to take some of the shine off the Greatest Generation. I was so disappointed when I read it, I didn't even want to send it along to my mother or sister, like I usually do when I enjoy a book but don't want to keep it. It's not that I'm cheap, but I plain didn't want one cent of my money going to this author, or to the publisher who put out this drek.
nice little sentimental journey
Anyone interested in "homefront" style stories will enjoy this one. A lovely, simple story of an engaging family, somewhat predictable, and I would not be surprised if Hallmark picks this up as a movie. Thankfully, it is not written in the first person present; that extremely annoying, self-absorbed recounting of every action and thought of the narrator as it is happening (!) as most of Elizabeth Berg's books are written, which is why I can't get through any of her other books, though I have tried.. She has wonderful ideas for stories but of all her books, this is the one that I DO recommend.
Love and war
Dream is a WWII home front novel that reads something like a 1940's movie starring Ginger Rogers or Betty Grable. The Heaney Sisters (aka the Dreamy Sisters to all the guys who meet them) are the archetypal, golly gee, let's do it for the boys, characters that populate the books, music, and films of the era. Salt of the earth Irish American parents, good Catholic daughters and sons,and brave, selfless soldiers. Meatless Wednesdays, mystery meat, Glenn Miller, and USO dances. All this would work if it were written in the 1950's, and era of idealism and celebration. Nowadays, these characters simply come across as too good to be real.
Dream is fun to read for its nostalgic value, for its reminder of the genuine sacrifices that those at home made for those "over there", but too much sentimental, saccharine ambience is never a good thing. Worth a read, but not great.
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