Book Reviews

The Art of Mending

The Art of Mending is such a thought-full title. I like how it rolls off my tongue, offering hope for whatever needs fixing.

Mending: An old-fashioned word. Who mends these days? And yet, it’s a comforting word much like the stories that Elizabeth Berg unravels, then pulls together with a satisfactory ending.

Elizabeth Berg is skilled with weaving words together thoughtfully and with purpose, causing me to pause and enjoy the scene as it unfolds. I read slowly and savor her exquisite writing.

“There are random moments—tossing a salad, coming up the driveway to the house, ironing the seams flat on a quilt square, standing at the kitchen window and looking out at the delphiniums, hearing a burst of laughter from one of my children’s rooms—when I feel a wavelike rush of joy. This is my true religion: arbitrary moments of nearly painful happiness for a life I feel privileged to lead. Think of the way you sometimes see a tiny shaft of sunlight burst through a gap between rocks, the way it then expands to illuminate a much larger space—it’s like that. And it’s like quilting, a thread surfacing and then disappearing into the fabric of ordinary days. It’s not always visible, but it’s what holds everything together.”

It is a joy to share Elizabeth Berg’s writing with you.

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