by Cathleen Schine
Reviewed by Linda:
The Contemporary Book Club recently enjoyed discussing this book, whose author is sometimes compared to Jane Austen. The Bergman clan of New York City is confronting the aging of its two senior members. With compassion and gentle humor, the author relates the painful changes that time brings, but also the power of love and resilience. Each generation has its shortcomings and foibles; the adult children of matriarch Joy struggle mightily to comprehend that she has a suitor, and she must accept that her beloved daughter has a wife. The grandchildren add their own dramas to the mix.