Berg, Elizabeth

Describes how the culture of the United States is reflected in its many holidays, including Saint Patrick's Day, Halloween, and Independence Day.

"Novel about three people who have lost the person they love most, and must find their way back to happiness. Arthur, a widower, meets Maddy, an angry and friendless teenage girl, while visiting his late wife at the cemetary, where he goes every day for lunch. Against all odds, the two strike up a friendship that pulls them out of a serious rut. They band together with Arthur's nosy neighbor Lucille, to create lives that are truly worth living. Proving that life's most precious moments are sweeter when shared, they go from strangers, to friends, to an untraditional but loving family. Betrayal, loneliness, romance and family are at the heart of this book."--Provided by publisher.

Laura Bartone, now in her fifties, is forced to face unpleasant truths from the past when her troubled sister Caroline calls on the eve of a family reunion and asks to meet with her and their brother to discuss the abuses she believes she suffered at the hands of their emotionally distant mother.

"George Sand was a 19th century French novelist known not only for her novels but even more for her scandalous behavior. After leaving her estranged husband, Sand moved to Paris where she wrote, wore men's clothing, smoked cigars, and had love affairs with famous men and an actress named Marie. In an era of incredible artistic talent, Sand was the most famous female writer of her time. Her lovers and friends included Frederic Chopin, Gustave Flaubert, Franz Liszt, Eugene Delacroix, Victor Hugo, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and more. In a major departure, Elizabeth Berg has created a gorgeous novel about the life of George Sand, written in luminous prose, with exquisite insight into the heart and mind of a woman who was considered the most passionate and gifted genius of her time"--.

The decades melt away as newly divorced Dorothy Shauman, class beauty Candy Armstrong, veterinarian and widower Lester Hessenpfeffer, and other classmates gather for a fortieth reunion.

Ginny Young boards a plane to reunite with her mother, whom she has not seen in over three decades, and recalls the summer in 1950s rural Wisconsin when she turned twelve years old and her life changed forever.

On the hot Texas army base she calls home, Kate struggles to grow up and understand her often violent father.

Retells the biblical story of Mary and Joseph, beginning with their meeting at a wedding and ending with the birth of their son, Jesus, and their life in Nazareth.

Laura Bartone, now in her fifties, is forced to face unpleasant truths from the past when her troubled sister Caroline calls on the eve of a family reunion and asks to meet with her and their brother to discuss the abuses she believes she suffered at their hands of their emotionally distant mother.