Two stars means a book is okay. I finished it and I didn't hate it and there were certain things I liked about it. The problem with this one for me was that I didn't like the main character, Helen, very much. She is a bit ditsy and unreflective, which would be okay. But she isn't congruent with herself. She is a writer and I like what she says about writing and the writing process and why a writer writes, but I felt like those sections were coming from Elizabeth Berg's own voice, not from the voice of the character. Helen didn't seem like she had the depth to write a very good book. And we never see examples of her writing. I'm afraid that had I read any of her books, I might agree with the negative letter she received from Margot Langley.What I did like was the descriptions of the people in her writing class. They were sort of a motley crew, broken and imperfect, but their writing was congruent with their personalities. Berg did a good job with their individual and unique voices. I learned to love them and root for them in ways that I didn't for Helen. The other thing I liked was the descriptions of the house in California. Berg always a great job describing settings and she doesn't let us down here. But again, Helen doesn't seem like the kind of woman whose ideas would have inspired such a house. In the acknowledgements, Berg says that the seed for this novel was planted by her daughter. Berg was complaining one day about not being able to write and her daughter said, "Why don't you write about that?" I wish Berg had modeled Helen to be more like herself. I've heard Berg speak before and she is smart and funny and gracious. If Helen had embodied these characteristics, the book would have been much better. Helen Ames is a pampered woman in her 60's. Recently widowed, she struggles to cope with her loss, get along with her daughter, and continue forward with her successful writing career. Helen has never taken charge of her own life. All financial and domestic responsibilities fell to her husband. After his death, Helen finds herself unable to do little things like change a lightbulb. She refuses to even look at financial statements, trusting that everything is fine. I guess Home Safe was written to explore a certain type of temperament and a certain type of woman. I found myself viewing Helen, not as sympathetic, but as insipid and annoying. Her shrewish daughter, perhaps meant to represent a younger generation, came off as a harpy. Home Safe had the opportunity to explore the complex lives and relationships of women. Instead, it chose to be a silly perpetuation of weak and/or negative female stereotypes.
What do You think about Home Safe (2009)?
The worst kind of fiction for woman, a consumption fantasy.
—Yure
