Outside A Dog

This weekend, I also finished Dream When You’re Feeling Blue by Elizabeth Berg, a story about three sisters doing their best to survive being left at home during World War II. Kitty, the eldest, writes to her steady boyfriend, Julian, while her sister Louise writes to Julian’s best friend Michael, who proposed just as he was leaving for the Army. And their youngest sister, Tish, writes to just about every gentleman she meets at the USO dances she loves. Kitty struggles with both her devotion to Julian and her decision to work at a defense job helping to assemble airplanes as everyone at home struggles to support the war effort.

I have to say, I really enjoyed this one. It’s a light read, but it’s a glimpse into what wartime looked like for those who weren’t on the front lines. All of Kitty’s family members are affected in their own way, and the stories told here remind me of those I’ve heard in person about coping during the war. Kitty is an independent little thing, and her struggles to find herself and determine how she wants to live her life really strike home with me.

I have to mention the ending, though: you’re either going to love it or hate it, because it comes out of nowhere. It definitely didn’t register the first time through, and I had to go back and re-read the last two chapters several times before it sunk in. Having read other reviews, I think I’m in the minority in my appreciation of the ending — some have mentioned that they believe the last two chapters are out of character for Kitty, but I do think it follows what Berg intended.