Patty is in love with a gay man and wants a child -- dilemmas one might not be able to relate to, but such is Elizabeth Berg's magic that she draws readers into this particular story as strongly as if it were reality. She makes the difficult and complex choices of Patty and the object of her affection, Ethan, seem natural -- the initial decision to conceive a baby, then a move to Minneapolis where Ethan feels he might better simulate heterosexuality, Patty's everyday irritation with the tumults of pregnancy, and finally, welcoming a child against the backdrop of Patty's mother's recent diagnosis of Alzheimer's. One life is ushered in as another is slowly but surely escorted out; the smooth ebb and flow of being continues, and Berg, as always, renders every moment lyric and wonderful.
Patty is in love with a gay man and wants a child -- dilemmas one might not be able to relate to, but such is Elizabeth Berg's magic that she draws readers into this particular story as strongly as if it were reality. She makes the difficult and complex choices of Patty and the object of her affection, Ethan, seem natural -- the initial decision to conceive a baby, then a move to Minneapolis where Ethan feels he might better simulate heterosexuality, Patty's everyday irritation with the tumults of pregnancy, and finally, welcoming a child against the backdrop of Patty's mother's recent diagnosis of Alzheimer's. One life is ushered in as another is slowly but surely escorted out; the smooth ebb and flow of being continues, and Berg, as always, renders every moment lyric and wonderful.
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