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    Never Change
    Never Change
    Never Change
    Audiobook7 hours

    Never Change

    Written by Elizabeth Berg

    Narrated by Elizabeth Berg

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    You know people like me. I'm the one who sat in a folding chair out in the hall selling tickets to the prom but never going, the one everybody liked but no one wanted to be with.
    A self-anointed spinster at fifty-one, Myra Lipinsky has endured the isolation of her middle life by doting on her dog, Frank, and immersing herself in her career as a visiting nurse. Myra considers herself reasonably content, telling herself, It's enough, work and Frank. And it has been enough -- until Chip Reardon, the too-good-to-be-true golden boy she adored from afar, is assigned to be her patient. Choosing to forgo invasive treatment for an incurable illness, Chip has returned from Manhattan to the New England home of his childhood to spend what time he has left. Now, Myra and Chip find themselves engaged in a poingnant redefinition of roles, and a complicated dance of memory, ambivalence, and longing.

    From the author whose work The New Yorker calls "strong" and "timeless" comes a wry and beautifully distilled portrait of one woman's resilience in the face of loneliness, and of a union that transcends life's most unexpected and challenging circumstances. With effortless warmth, and loving respect for characters that defies easy sentiment, Never Change melds the emotional depth and gentle intensity of poetry with the rich satisfactions of finely wrought fiction.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateSep 3, 2013
    ISBN9781480501324
    Author

    Elizabeth Berg

    Elizabeth Berg is the award-winning author of more than twenty-five books, including the New York Times bestsellers True to Form, Never Change, Open House, The Story of Arthur Truluv, Night of Miracles, and The Confession Club. She lives outside of Chicago. Find out more at Elizabeth-Berg.net.

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    Reviews for Never Change

    3.5/5

    302 ratings20 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This book had a melancholy tone throughout - and not just because one of the main characters was dying - but I enjoyed it. A lot of thought material for loners, people who feel pushed out, and people who want to understand those people.
    • 5/5
      Elizabeth Berg always gives us so much to consider about life and what’s most valuable. Her narration of this story flowed beautifully. It’s so easy to fall into a life like Myra had done thinking it to uncomfortable to shake things up. Life is change. We can decide to do things differently right up to our last breath. I throughly enjoyed this story.
    • 4/5
      Tearjerker. The grownup equivalent of Barbara Conklin's young adult classic [book: P.S. I Love You].
    • 4/5
      "Never Change" is a beautifully drawn portrait of a lonely woman who expects nothing special to come into her life. However, life being what it is, things can turn on a dime and often do. She finds a beautiful life offered up to her though only for a short time. By the end of that period of time she comes to realize that we take what life offers us and sometimes we can turn it into a glorious life that we love living. She also realizes that we can refuse to accept what life has to offer. Elizabeth Berg has a gift for exploring the human mind and heart and showing us through fiction that we all have choices in our daily lives to make them beautiful and successful or common, ordinary and miserable. An exceptional read.
    • 4/5
      The plot moves decisively and the entanglements with the main character, Myra, the nurse, areunpredictable and revealing as Chip and Myra discover each other.The problem is that even toward the book's end, Myra still chooses to be an emotional pushover,allowing the man she loves to sleep with his old girlfriend in her own house. Geez.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book. Still pondering what to say in a review.
    • 4/5
      i did cry a few times reading "Never Change". I loved Myra, a woman of few words but always the right ones. She was the high school wallflower. She had no idea how special she was. She is a nurse who does home visits and we get to know some delightful characters through these visits. Rose, who is a sweet elderly lady with an odd way of dressing. Ethel and Murray who love to hate each other, Grace a 15 year old mom learning to look after her newborn son, Dewitt with a gunshot womb and a lot of attitude but the heart of gold underneath... I know cliche. But the book is not sentimental nor is it chiche.Then Myra gets a new patient Chip the high school hero now dying of cancer. The resulting relationship between them and Diann, his high school love, and his parent, unfolds with a lovely reflection on people's ability to cope with a terminal disease. As Chip says "Dying teaches you a lot about how to live".
    • 3/5
      I liked that Myra was not the beauty that is so often the heroine in love stories. I really liked the characters, so many quirky ones. And you would have to be very cold-hearted not to care about Myra and Chip.
    • 4/5
      Myra Lipinski has spent her life looking out at everyone else living their lives. Working as a visiting nurse, she cares with tender efficiency for patients who need the kind of nursing care she can provide. She also feels genuine affection for them, bolsters their spirits and helps them outside of her official duties. But she has to remain professionally detached. Fortunately this comes easy for her. At fifty-one, she knows she will always live alone – except for her dog Frank. After all, she’s always been unattractive – the girl who sits outside the school cafeteria selling prom tickets, but never attends the dance. But her assumptions are tested when her old high school crush, Chip Reardon, returns to town. He is dying and he needs a nurse.

      What I love about Berg’s novels is that she gives us something to think about, but also lets the reader feel with the characters. I felt Myra’s loneliness, exhilaration, peace, fear, anger, and pride. I found myself thinking about what constitutes quality of life, why certain people are attracted to one another, or how a chance encounter can really change the course of one’s life. I like that Berg’s characters are – for the most part – fully fleshed out. Even minor characters show both strengths and weaknesses. Pay attention to the prologue, and after you finish the epilogue go back and re-read the prologue. I love how Berg bookends Myra’s story with these two sections, calling attention to the wonder of normal everyday things.
    • 4/5
      Nurse Myra's employment agency asks her to take a terminal cancer patient--who just happens to be her secret high school heart throb. Grabbed my heart, but there were no quotes I wanted to save so I couldn't quite mark it 4 star. When I was a nurse, it was completely forbidden to accept gifts from patients--yet part of the action depends on Myra doing just that. Perhaps hospice nursing has different rules--I also can't imagine bringing a personal pet along on home visits.
    • 4/5
      At 51, Myra Lipinski considers herself a spinster. She immerses herself in her work as a home health care nurse, and dotes on her dog Frank. She considers herself reasonably content, and tells herself that work and Frank are enough; and it has been enough, until she is assigned to her newest patient, Chip Reardon. Chip was the "golden boy" that everyone in high school worshiped, and Myra,a self described ugly duckling and a loner, had a secret crush on him.Now Chip is dying from terminal cancer, and he has returned home to his parents in New England to spend what little time he has left. Chip's mother is upset that he is refusing further treatment, and she keeps pushing him to reconsider. Meanwhile, Chip bonds with Myra, feeling that she is the only one who truly understands.I really enjoyed this story. It's refreshing for a change to have main characters that are 50-something, especially since I just turned 50 myself. It seems like in most fiction I read, the main characters are much younger, and if they are older, then it's the story of them looking back on their lives during their younger years. I could also relate to the way Myra felt in high school; I too was an ugly duckling and a loner. I've also never been married or had kids, but unlike Myra, I never yearned for that. I do however, dote on my two cats who I consider my "babies".Living with cancer and going through treatment, I can also understand Chip's reasons for wanting to die peacefully. There are some sad moments in this book, but it's also a story of hope, and there is humor sprinkled throughout, especially in the stories of the patients Myra visits and befriends.
    • 3/5
      3.5 starsMyra is a nurse and does home care. She has never been a particularly social person and always found it hard to make friends. When she has to start seeing a new patient, she recognizes the name immediately: Chip Reardon was the guy in high school who all the girls had a crush on, including Myra. He is dying from brain cancer. It was good. I was able to identify a bit with Myra. I also thought Berg did a really good job with some of the different characters. The book was short and very fast to read, so it might have been nice to get to know some of the other characters even better, but for it being so short, I thought it was well done.
    • 4/5
      This is a sweet and sad story of the perpetual third wheel, the smart girl who is a great "friend" but never has a date. Myra Lipinski is 51 now, has never been pretty, never been married, never had children, but is a wonderful nurse and has a huge heart. She is resigned to a life of loneliness until she gets a new patient who turns out to be her high-school crush; popular, handsome, athletic Chip. They become friends and more, everything Myra ever dreamed of. The stumbling block? Chip is dying of cancer. Heart-breaking but also an uplifting story about living in the moment.
    • 4/5
      A slow, sweet, sad novel about dying that turns out to be more about how to live.Myra is a visiting nurse who is assigned to care for Chip, the boy she longed for in high school. Chip and Myra have both reached the age of 51, essentially alone. It takes the reality of death (Chip's late stage brain cancer) to force them to confront the fears that have kept them isolated for so long. Berg's usual lyrical writing, humor, and a memorable cast of supporting characters add to a fine story to make for a lovely read.
    • 4/5
      This book will take you on a journey through the final stage of someone's life. I think that I need to be a bit more selective when I choose these types of books, because although this was a good story, it may have been a little too soon after losing my sister to read something with this type of content. Myra has lived her whole life alone, not really reaching out or expecting much from others as she didn't seem to think that people would enjoy her as a friend. She is a nurse that assists people with their needs in their homes and may have several clients in a day. Getting the chance to know Myra's clients was kind of a fun and lighter part of the book. One morning Myra realizes that Chip Reardon has been added to her client list and high school memories of her longing for Chip flood her mind. But Myra is a professional and she should be able to handle caring for Chip and whatever needs arise as he prepares for his final stage of life because of a brain tumor.Chip is thankful to see a friendly face that he knows when Myra shows up at his door. You can tell that he is getting tired of being treated like a patient and hopes that Myra will start to spend time with him as a friend. They do become much closer and Myra is happy to get to know Chip on such a personal level, but quickly becomes discouraged when Chip's girlfriend Diane shows up on her doorstep. Since Diane is from out of town, Myra offers her spare bedroom to Diane for as long as she needs it.During the time that the ladies are staying together you can tell that Myra never really had close, female friendships. She actually was shocked when Diane suggested that Myra never allowed people to get close to her back in high school. When Chip later brings to her attention that she is a wonderful person but just needs to let people into her life, it all comes together.Myra has been with people as they are dying before and she is not afraid to be around them. She finds it soothing in a way because these people are true and honest with themselves. You can see the appreciation of life in the eyes of terminally ill people that most individuals just can't comprehend. From personal experience this is such a special time and I will always have fond memories of the last days I had with my sister. Of course it is heartbreaking, but I also have the memories of us laughing and enjoying each other's company during that time.In a way Chip helped Myra as much as she helped him, by helping her find a piece of herself that she didn't know existed. He helped to bring her out of her shell and realize that she is just as worthy of being loved as anyone. She was a wonderful individual with so much to offer. Myra just wasn't sure how she would be able to live without Chip by her side in the future.I enjoyed this story with it's themes of love, dying, grief, and acceptance. I have only read a couple of Elizabeth Berg's books, but I feel that she really developed the characters well in this novel. I do recommend this as an audiobook, but not too soon after losing a loved one.
    • 5/5
      Reading Elizabeth Berg is the equivalent of eating comfort food - a guilty pleasure - almost, but not quite, junk food. I enjoyed this book as much as I have enjoyed all of her books. As always, it's about relationships; the basic ups and downs of every day life; the differences and, more importantly, the similarities between the have's and have-nots, the lucky and the unlucky in love, the beautiful and the not so beautiful. It's easy to write her books off as trite fairy tales - but in fact, her strength is that she makes us believe that fairy tales can and will come true, if only we'll open our hearts to the possibilities.
    • 3/5
      Elizabeth Berg captures the essence of the human need for companionship in this novel. A rather heartbreaking tale of a spinster who is given a second chance to find love.
    • 5/5
      I find all of Elizabeth Berg's books enjoyable. Being a nurse myself, I enjoy reading stories that involve them. This book was a geat read, the characters were enjoyable, and I suggest this book to anyone who adores Mrs. Berg.
    • 5/5
      Another great work of realistic fiction by Elizabeth Berg!
    • 5/5
      This was my first Berg book.and it won't be my last. It was funny, quirky, sad, and tragic all at the same time. I would start crying on one page and by the next I was laughing again. Berg has become one of my all time favorite authors.