[.ca] Open House: A Novel (ISBN 0345435168)

From Amazon.com:
Oprah Book Club® Selection, August 2000: The narrator of Elizabeth Berg's Open House calls divorce "a series of internal earthquakes ... one after the other." She ought to know. Samantha is abandoned by her husband in the opening pages of this three-handkerchief special, and the resultant tremors keep her off-balance for most of the novel. There are practical problems aplenty, of course, including a shortage of money and an 11-year-old son to raise. But Sam's sense of emotional bereavement is far worse, despite the fact that her husband had been giving her the conjugal cold shoulder for years: I miss David so much, yes I do, I miss the presence of another person in my bed at night, even if he doesn't touch me; the reliability of someone else being there in the morning, even if they only shave and stare straight ahead into the mirror while you lean against the bathroom doorjamb with your cup of coffee, chatting hopefully. The loneliness in her "as constant and as irrefutable" as circulating blood, Sam begins to rebuild her life. She finds herself a job and takes in a couple of boarders to help meet her mortgage payments. (One of them, a depressed student named Lavender Blue, informs her that "life was nothing but one major disappointment after the other"--the sort of homily that Sam is understandably reluctant to hear these days.) She also starts dating, with disastrous results. Yet this comically kvetching heroine does manage to find love in the ruins, and by the time Open House winds down, it's hard not to believe that she's much better off. Throughout, Berg alternates her snappy and sappy registers like a real pro. And the conclusion, which most readers will be able to spot a mile off, seems just right--the light at the end of the post-matrimonial tunnel. --Anita Urquhart

Just OK:
Expected more from this book than what I got. It's a quick read, and Berg's style is brilliant, but the storyline leaves something to be desired.

Barely there:
The author's skillful use of the language (some of the metaphors read like borderline poetry) hardly compensates for the clumsy plot (or the lack of it). Some scenes are totally unnecessary (like Sam's attempt to seduce her husband to regain his affection). The not-so-subtle overriding theme of overcoming personal insecurities by learning to love your cellulite is hardly new, and, frankly, becoming a bit annoying. Had this book been any longer, it would be seriously irritating.

Would give it zero stars if I could:
This book was horrible. I couldn't finish reading it, which is saying a lot because I hate to waste my hard earned money on a book that I can't read. I can't believe this was an Oprah choice. Not that I read books or do anything else because Oprah suggests it. I read another one of her book choices and found it to be an entertaining read. But not this one. The characters in this book seemed shallow. Sam seemed to be more of a ditz than a woman crushed by an estranged husband. The son seemed very immature for his age. Maybe this was just from the way he was written. OK, I can't say much more because I didn't read the whole book. I will say I tried though, it just wasn't worth my time. The only reason I'm writing the review is to advise others to not even waste their time on this poorly written book.

Take a Pass if you want...anything:
Slow...kept waiting for something to happen and it never did. The end should ahve been in the middle and a whole other ending created. Likable characters keep you reading, but worth a pass. Read with a book club - average rating for 6 people was 2.

A 4.5:
I really enjoyed this book. It was my first Elizabeth Berg book that I read. I loved the flow of the book and the characters and the plot. This book was well written and kept my interest.