Journal Entry 1 by fushmush from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Wednesday, October 19, 2011

The familiar protagonist of Berg's 13th novel (after The Art of Mending) is a Boston widow of several months, 55-year-old Betta Nolan, who fulfills her dying husband's dream of moving out to the Midwest and starting a new life. "It will give me peace to know that what you will do is exactly what we talked about," says John commandingly before dying of liver cancer; Betta, an author of children's books, sells their Beacon Hill brownstone and takes off, buying an oversized Victorian in the small town of Stewart, Ill., 49 miles from Chicago. Lonely, she finds herself tracking down three former college roommates from the late 1960s, Lorraine, Maddy and Susanna, whom she ditched once she met John. The women reappear one by one and help give her the courage to open a shop called What a Woman Wants (it'll sell "all different stuff that women loved. Beautiful things, but unusual too. Like antique birdcages with orchids growing in them"). Meanwhile, she begins to make friends in town, notably with attractive young handyman Matthew and natty oldster Tom Bartlett. 

Journal Entry 2 by catsalive at Rooty Hill, New South Wales Australia on Tuesday, December 06, 2011

Spotted at Pyrmont Community Centre Book Exchange today, after a BC lunch at the pub over the road. 

Journal Entry 3 by catsalive at Pyrmont Community Centre Book Exchange in Pyrmont, New South Wales Australia on Tuesday, December 06, 2011

Released 1 yr ago (12/6/2011 UTC) at Pyrmont Community Centre Book Exchange in Pyrmont, New South Wales Australia

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

On the bookshelves.