Home Safe (22 page)
Authors: Elizabeth Berg
Tags: #General, #Fiction, #Psychological, #Psychological Fiction, #Fiction - General, #Widows, #Mothers and daughters, #Family Life, #American Contemporary Fiction - Individual Authors +, #Domestic fiction, #Contemporary Women, #Parent and adult child
acknowledgments
I owe an enormous debt to a few people who saw the value of this book early on, when I couldn't. Thanks to Barbara Ascher, who told me about the metaphysical pleasures of sailing, and then referred me to William Steig's children's book
Amos & Boris
, so a mouse could tell me about it, too—and so succinctly! Phyllis Florin put in her two cents' worth, and her two cents are worth a million bucks. Cindy Kline read the entire manuscript in what seemed like five minutes and said, “What's the
problem?”
Judy Markey told me the ending gave her goose bumps. Jessica Tread-way said,
“I
would publish this
proudly,”
and Jessica Treadway is a formidable talent. She also made specific suggestions that made the book blossom. Marianne Quasha told me all about tree houses and handkerchief linen and reminded me, as she always does, to keep the big picture in mind. She also told me she liked to put crayons up her nose and smell them, which made
that
day. My agent, Suzanne Gluck, makes me feel truly understood and appreciated, and my editor, Kate Medina, gets an A
+
in knowing the best way to arrange pages and nurture writers. My writers' group offered wise and honest criticism, as always: yet another round of thanks to Veronica Chapa, Pam Todd, and Michele Weldon. I owe the biggest thanks of all to my daughter, Julie Krintzman, who planted the seed for this novel. When I was complaining that I felt like I couldn't write, she said, “Why don't you write about that?”
about the author
ELIZABETH BERG is the author of many bestselling novels as well as two works of nonfiction.
Open House
was an Oprah's Book Club selection,
Durable Goods
and
Joy School
were selected as ALA Best Books of the Year, and
Talk Before Sleep
was short-listed for an Abby Award. Her bestsellers also include
The Year of Pleasures, The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted
, and
Dream When You're Feeling Blue
. Berg has been honored by both the Boston Public Library and the Chicago Public Library and is a popular speaker at venues around the country. She lives near Chicago.
Home Safe
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2009 by Elizabeth Berg
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Random House, an imprint of The Random House
Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
RANDOM HOUSE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Berg, Elizabeth.
Home safe: a novel / Elizabeth Berg.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-1-58836-852-2
1. Widows—Fiction. 2. Mothers and daughters—Fiction. 3. Parent and adult
child—Fiction. 4. Psychological fiction. 5. Domestic fiction. I. Title.
PS3552.E6996H66 2009
813′.54—dc22 2008049247
v3.0
Table of Contents
