Dream When You're Feeling Blue

A Novel

By: Elizabeth Berg

Narrated by: Elizabeth Berg

Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best-selling author Elizabeth Berg takes us to Chicago at the time of World War II in this wonderful story about three sisters, their lively Irish family, and the men they love.

As the novel opens, Kitty and Louise Heaney say good-bye to their boyfriends Julian and Michael, who are going to fight overseas. On the domestic front, meat is rationed, children participate in metal drives, and Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller play songs that offer hope and lift spirits. And now the Heaney sisters sit at their kitchen table every evening to write letters: Louise to her fiancé, Kitty to the man she wishes fervently would propose, and Tish to an ever-changing group of men she meets at USO dances.

In the letters the sisters send and receive are intimate glimpses of life both on the battlefront and at home. For Kitty, a confident, headstrong young woman, the departure of her boyfriend and the lessons she learns about love, resilience, and war will bring a surprise and a secret, and will lead her to a radical action for those she loves.

The lifelong consequences of the choices the Heaney sisters make are at the heart of this superb novel about the power of love and the enduring strength of family.

©2007 Elizabeth Berg (P)2007 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"[A] sentimental celebration of a bygone era." (Publishers Weekly)

Narrator was bland

I’m so disappointed because it was very difficult to get into this book because of the narrator’s monotone sounding reading. I tried a few times but gave up . Too blah

Not my favorite LB story.

I think a different reader would have helped as her voice was a bit monotone until the very end.

Disappointed

I usually like Berg's book, but this was inconsistent, I also didn't like the lengthy time spent on descriptions.

Wonderful, not sure about the narration

As an Elizabeth Berg fan, I looked forward to hearing this book. Always before I have read them. Her self narration sometimes seemed emotionally flat, with a strange, constant slow cadence. Toward the end the emotion started to feel more appropriate. All in all, I loved the book and the story was wonderful. It was relevant to me because I'm a post WW2 baby, and heard many stories similar to the ones in the book when I was growing up.

Couldn't Stop Listening

This book immediately brought me into the Heaney family's world which felt like a pretty good place to be. I remember my parents talking about W.W.II when my Dad was a pilot in the Pacific, and so many of the descriptions reminded me of things they had talked about. This book made me laugh and it made me cry, but most of all, it made me long for a time when the world was a much simpler place. I loved this book!

Love this story!

This particular story had me interested from the start. I couldn’t stop listening and could picture this family living out the war years. Wonderful book!

My first listen...liked for the most part.

Elisabeth Berg is one of my favorite authors. I hold a highlighter pen while reading her books just to remember sentences here and there. She puts things into words so beautifully. Some of what she writes I just never want to forget...

I loved this book but I am sorry to say I didn't like the narration. It was almost too syrupy sweet at times and I almost wanted to stop listening now and then. I'm glad I finished the book though, as I enjoy hearing about this time in history just knowing what my parents must have felt during those days during World War II. My father was in the Navy and my mother attended many a USO dance.

I could have done without the Irish accents though...and I'm Irish!

Please write more books Ms. Berg but I have to say I'll read your next novel and not listen to it.

Perfect story. Perfect narration.

Loved this precious story. Made me long for simpler times, patriotism, perfect families (flawed, but bound tightly together), innocence, sacrifice and faith. Elizabeth Berg is a master story teller, and her narration, including all the accents, is spot-on.

Not too satisfying

I'm a fan of Elizabeth Berg, and even attended a book-signing for this novel. While I love her other books, this one was not as satisfying. I was distracted by the constant over-use of brandnames, imagery, catch phrases, etc. meant to conjure up nostalgic memories, no doubt, in a more "mature" reader. I guess this book has its audience, but I'm more moved by her other works that deal with women her (and my) age.