In Elizabeth Berg's latest novel, THE YEAR OF PLEASURES, heroine
Betta Nolan's husband John died, but not before reminding her that
she is "stronger than (she) knows." After scattering his ashes (and
burying "a pinch," releasing a bit into the air, setting some
afire, and even swallowing a tad), Betta embarks on a journey of a
lifetime, the relocation from Boston to the small midwestern town
she promised her husband she would undertake. "What fell to me
now," she said, "what I was driving toward, was the creation of a
new kind of life, minus the ongoing influence of what I had loved
and depended upon most in the world."

Seeking the joy John wanted for her, Betta searches for pleasure in
the mundane, the every day --- cups of coffee, pancakes, the dog
next door. She rekindles friendships with three former college
roommates: impulsive Lorraine, the theater director; earth-mother
Maddy, the nurse-practitioner; and divorced Susanna, the divorce
attorney. They step up --- even after decades --- to support her in
her dark moments. Through heartfelt phone calls and long overdue
visits, they buoy her and go so far as to convince her that a year
of grief deserves to be followed by "a year of pleasures."

John's fear that he not only kept her from her old friends but also
from making new friends during their marriage is visited in
flashbacks, proving they were so involved in each other that they
didn't see --- or feel --- what was missing. The memories are
loving and touching, bittersweet glimpses of their love and their
life.

New friends become a theme of Betta's life in her new hometown.
Ten-year-old Benny offers to do odd jobs beyond his years, and in
so doing becomes somewhat of a surrogate son. Michael, the
twenty-something handyman she meets in a coffee shop, does the real
odd jobs of shoveling and painting, and becomes a confidant and
inspiration. Delores, the real estate agent who sold her a new
house, is a rock, and even Lydia, the crotchety previous owner of
the house, is a comfort (albeit a cranky comfort). A motley bunch
--- her friends, old and new --- they embody John's long repeated
advice, "love what you love without apology."

One word sums up the theme of THE YEAR OF PLEASURES: resilience.
Berg's writing is as moving as ever and her characters strong and
charming. Beautifully crafted sentences and scenes carry Betta from
death to rebirth: "With John, I'd found one kind of love. In the
little town I'd moved to, I'd found another."