Never Change

by Elizabeth Berg

Book Overview

A self-anointed spinster at fifty-one, Myra Lipinski is reasonably content with her quiet life, her dog, Frank, and her career as a visiting nurse. But everything changes when Chip Reardon, the golden boy she adored in high school, is assigned as her new patient. Choosing to forgo treatment for an incurable illness, Chip has returned to his New England hometown to spend what time he has left. Now, Myra and Chip find themselves engaged in a poignant...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743411331
• ISBN13: 9780743411332
• Release Date: May 2002
• Publisher: Washington Square Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.3" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A time for dying.

Elizabeth Berg has done it again. She has given us a story with characters that feel so real, and insights so valid, they go straight to the heart of anyone who is lucky enough to pick up her book. Her greatest strength lies in her observation of the ordinary details of living. She is nothing short of a master as the words and thoughts flow effortlessly across the page.Myra is a 51 year old Registered Nurse who works for a home care agency. Her new patient just happens to be Chip Reardon, a popular boy she loved from afar in high school, who has come home to die. Myra has been aloof all of her life, a wallflower, the watcher and never the center of life as it goes on around her. She is about to learn a very important lesson as she walks through the drama her life will become. Berg has added a few unexpected twists that keep us wondering till the end, leaving us for a time with a story that can go two ways. A wonderful book not soon forgotten. Another intuitive and embracing selection by Berg is PULL OF THE MOON. Kelsana 6/19/20

Laughter and Tears

Elizabeth Berg has given us another lovely and moving story, that of Myra Lipinsky, a 51-year-old visiting nurse in Boston who has never married and never really even had a good friend. My heart ached for this woman, to have never known the joy of having a buddy whom she could talk to, be with, confide in. Myra had never been asked on a date, never asked to go shopping with the girls or to a movie or a dance. People liked her and talked to her--they just did not become her friends. Yet she did not ask for pity. Her best friend is her dog, Frank, but Myra seems very satisfied with her life, her patients, her house, her routine, and her Porsche Carrera 911.Myra's patients provide us with a cast of characters who are similar to those in an Anne Tyler book--odd, quirky, and likable despite their flaws. They have become Myra's "family" and friends. She said that she became a nurse because "I knew it would be a good way for people to love me. And for me to love them too."Into Myra's life comes Chip Reardon, her high school love (unbeknownst to him) and every girl's dream boy, who has returned home to his parents' house in their small home town, ill with an end-stage brain tumor. She is assigned as the nurse to his case and says something so sad: "You know something bad about me? I thought only one thing. I thought, Good. Now I can have him." How she and Chip arrive at a different kind of loving relationship is a wonderful story as only Elizabeth Berg can tell it.The writing in this book is graceful and lyrical. The author is a former nurse herself and although she did not practice nursing very long, she is obviously an astute observer of people as she seems to get them just right. Myra's dealings with her patients is just right too--she coddles those who need it and forces others into making choices and decisions. This is a serious book about a serious subject, but as presented by Berg, it is not too heavy-handed.The title of the book is an oft-written sentiment in high school yearbooks. Berg writes "...never change. As though it were a choice. As though one of our greatest lessons isn't that change is the only constant. The seasons tell us, everything in organic life tells us, that there is no holding on; still, we try to do just that. Sometimes, though, we learn the kind of wisdom that celebrates the open hand. Then we know that letting go of everything is the only way to keep the things that matter most."

Stunning, funny, sensitive, and sweet

I was a little nervous about reading "Never Change" after reading the blurb on the book. I wasn't sure I was in the mood for another "terminal illness love story". Once I started, though, I got really wrapped up into the characters. I liked Myra, the narrator, a lot. Yes, she is alone at 52, but she's not sitting around pining her life away. She's made a great life for herself, and when Chip, the subject of her biggest high school crush, comes back into her life, everything gets shaken up. One of the things I liked best about this book was how well defined the characters were. They seem like real people. Yeah, Myra is tough, intelligent, and funny, but she is also selfish and petty...just like a real person! And every person Myra comes in contact with, whether it's Chip or her other patients, including a teenage mom, a ..dealer, and a woman with alzheimer's, has something to teach Myra about life. Another great thing about this book was the suspenseful ending. This is a terrific book and not at all maudlin. There are life lessons that anyone could learn from this book. I loved it!

One of her best! The characters are so real...

...they'll stay with you long after. By the time you finish reading Never Change, you'll have a hard time remembering that Myra and her patient were just characters in a book. Berg makes them so real. She is a keen observer of oh so many little details--nuances that she picks up observing the patterns of everyday life. One can't help but wonder if the movie rights will follow soon? Seems this story would come to life on the screen--Myra, a caring, funny heroine who only appears to be self-assured. As a visiting nurse, her daily rounds include a delightful collection of patients that feel as real as your own funny old aunt or kibbitzing neighbor, or scared teenage mother you might know. When Myra takes on a new patient, a former high school crush of hers who is now 51 and dying of a brain tumor, Berg does what she does so well--any women will identify with the feelings, the humor, the insecurity that come pouring out. My only complaint is the story is too short. I read it in one night, savoring each page, and I didn't want it to end. Myra is someone I would like to have as a friend. Elizabeth Berg is wonderful!! After so many of the passages I read, I found myself smiling and nodding in agreement. She is so gifted when it comes to expressing what REAL women feel! I rated this book 5 stars only because the scale does not go to 6.

A beautiful and poignant love story

Even as a child Myra Lipinsky had no friends and failed to connect with anyone. She sold the tickets to the prom, but no male asked her to go with him. As an adult, she had become a visiting nurse. Her occupation is her only satisfaction as she is content with her solitary status especially since her dog Frank provides her with companionship.At fifty-one, her high school secret crush Chip Reardon returns into her life when he is dying from an inoperable brain tumor. Chip refuses to accept chemo or radiation that will grant him a few more months to live, but at a dramatically reduced style of life. Chip moves into Myra's home where he teaches her to live and she teaches him to love.Elizabeth Berg has written a beautiful and poignant love story centering on a person accepting his fate and living what time he has left in life to the fullest. Chip's gift to Myra is helping her to open up to her feelings even as she provides him with the nurturing and the support he needs at the end. NEVER CHANGE is a five-tissue box novel, for the tears that flow not out of sorrow, but out of living. Elizabeth berg has written one of the most dramatic and beautiful books of her career, one that celebrates life to the fullest despite the death sentence hanging over the hero's head.Harriet Klausner