The Pull of the Moon_ A Novel - By Elizabeth Berg Page 0,58

you agree that turning fifty is a major turning point in a woman’s life, and if so, why is it so significant? What are the worst and best things about growing older? Which other birthdays feel like major milestones?

9. According to Nan, “Every woman I know has a story … some incident of paralyzed humiliation involving a man and sex”. Based on your own experiences and those of friends and family, do you think she’s right? Nan mentions a theory that twelve is the age “when things start to change for girls, the time when they start to lose their power”. Is this true? If so, can it be changed?

10. When pressed to say what kind of mother Nan was, Ruthie tells her mother, “Well, mostly, you just taught me to trust myself”. How does Nan feel about this comment? As she contemplates her multiple roles as a daughter, wife, and mother, what conclusions does she draw? How is she different from her mother and her daughter?

11. Nan spends two long nights in the woods, confronting her fear of the dark. What makes these episodes so meaningful, and why is the second night so different from the first? Have you ever challenged yourself to face a profound fear?

12. Throughout the novel, Berg explores the differences between women and men. Can you think of some examples? Do you agree with Nan’s views on traditional gender roles?

13. Nan fantasizes about the ideal home she’d like to build and furnish. Do you think that she and Martin will actually make her dream house? What would your ideal home look like?

14. In the novel, Nan cultivates a deep awareness of simple things, taking the time to appreciate a pretty yellow skirt, a big fat tomato, and people in general as they go about their daily routines. What kept her from enjoying these simple pleasures in the past and “really seeing” herself and others? Do you practice this heightened awareness in your daily life? Is it something you’d like to cultivate?

15. Berg introduces the reader to a number of characters as the story unfolds, including Lawrence, the waiter who loves angels, Robert, the new widower at the cabin/motel in Minnesota, Susan, the tough-but-kind woman at the trailer park, Eugenie, the eighty-six-year-old woman shelling peas, and the girl with a lemonade stand. What makes Berg’s minor characters so vivid and compelling? Which ones stand out the most, and which have the greatest impact on Nan? How do you think her brief relationships on the road compare to her friendships back home?

16. What does Nan discover that finally makes her ready to head back to Boston? What life-changing decisions or discoveries has she made?

17. How do you think Martin will behave when Nan returns? Will their lives be different, or will they slip back into old patterns? Do you think Nan can hold onto her new, grounded perspective and goals for the future?

Read on for an exciting preview

of Elizabeth Berg’s wonderful novel

The Last Time I Saw You

chapter one

DOROTHY SHAUMAN LEDBETTER SHAUMAN IS STANDING IN front of her bathroom mirror in her black half slip and black push-up bra, auditioning a look. Her fortieth high school reunion, the last one, is one week away, and she’s trying to decide whether or not to draw a beauty mark above her lip for the occasion. It wouldn’t be entirely false; she does have a mole there, but it’s faint, hard to see. She just wants to enhance what already exists, nothing wrong with that.

She regards herself in the mirror, tilts her head this way and that. Yes, a beauty mark would be fun, kind of playful. She pencils in the mark gingerly, then steps back to regard herself. Not bad. Not bad at all. Sexy. Just like she wanted. Helllloooo, Marilyn. She pictures Pete Decker looking up from his table full of jocks when she walks into the hotel ballroom and saying, “Va va va voom!” And then, “Dorothy? Dorothy Shauman?”

“Uh-huh,” she will say, lightly, musically, and walk right past him. Though she hopes she’ll walk close enough for him to smell her perfume. Also new. One hundred and ten smackeroos. She got perfume, not cologne, even though her personal belief is that there is no difference. She’d asked the counter woman about that. She’d leaned in confidentially and said, “Now, come on. Tell me, really. If you were my best friend, would you tell me to get the perfume over the cologne?” And the woman looked her right in