Hurrah! An Elizabeth Berg novel that didn’t make me weep! This is the story of a final (why final? I thought it was weird that they stated it was the last one) high school reunion. Everyone attending it has different reasons for doing so, which we see by seeing the various characters in their home lives before seeing them at the actual reunion. Now in their sixties a lot has happened to everyone in the intervening years, and yet some types stayed the same-the football hero who wants to get laid, the cheerleader pining for the football hero, the quiet overlooked kids, etc.
I thought it was hilarious that my mother (close in age to these characters) got all heated up and bent out of shape about the characters and how some of them clung to their high school behaviors. So what? There wouldn’t be a good story if they didn’t. Besides, you can’t tell me that some people never mature or change.
Although this was not a Berg weeper, there was still heartfelt emotion in the story. Definitely much lighter than her other novels, though.
Oh, how I love Elizabeth Berg books! So warm and satisfying, usually bittersweet and a little melancholy. This one was a bit different from her others in that it is historical. Set during WWII it is the story of two sisters (Kitty and Louise) and their sweethearts (Michael, Julian, and Hank). Rich with details of USO dances, women working in factories, a family of 8 in a tiny house (3 sisters, 3 brothers), and other details of life on the homefront. Actually, there are also many details of the men’s service overseas (in both the Pacific and European theaters of war). A central part of the story is the letters the sisters write every night to not only their sweethearts, but also to various men they meet at the dances. These letters are where the girls pour out their hearts and relationships flourish and wither. The thing about a war novel is that you know at least one of the characters is not going to make it home–it’s just a matter of which one. 
