The Confession Club

September 9, 2019
Berg (The Story of Arthur Truluv) returns to Mason, Mo., for this feel-good testament to taking risks, falling in love, and reinvention. Here, the focus is on the irrepressible members of a monthly club of eight women ranging in age from 20s to 80s, who bare their fibs, sins, and shame. “They knew they were mostly silly,” Berg writes. “They enjoyed being silly, because sometimes you just needed to take a load off.” The heart of this story belongs to cooking school teacher Iris, who’s “coming into my fifties,” divorced and childless when she falls in love with John, 66, a homeless Vietnam vet still haunted by the war and the wife and child he left behind. Berg effortlessly wraps her arms around this busy universe of quirky characters with heartbreaking secrets and unflagging faith. “We forget how ready people are to help,” 47-year-old “stout and practical” club member Toots says, adding: “To say those words to yourself or another, ‘I forgive you’? Most powerful words in the world.” Readers new to Berg’s Mason will be dazzled by this bright and fascinating story, and fans will be cheering for the next volume set there. Agent: Suzanne Gluck, WME Entertainment.

Author and narrator Elizabeth Berg effortlessly captures the tone and pacing of her Midwestern characters as they face life stages and contemporary social conflict. What started as a dining club evolves into a support group whose only requirement is that the participants be honest in their confessions. Most poignant are the characters' long-term regrets and abuses, which have reawakened after decades in repose, and now keep them from finding fulfillment, joy, and forgiveness. The collection's opening story, which features Iris Winters, who, shockingly, begins a love affair with a kind but troubled homeless vet, carries the most emotional weight. Berg's voice shines brightest when describing this love affair and handles the vicissitudes of growing older in a satisfying and optimistic tone. R.O. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine