I admit that I had to put this down for a bit. Berg, who is an eloquent and compassionate writer, touched a nerve with this memoir about her parents, her siblings, and herself. How you react to this will likely depend on where you are on the spectrum of life. Berg, who is 70, struck a chord with me- I'm a bit younger- but my mother is 91. I've been lucky that she chose to move herself into a community so I was not faced with the daunting task that Berg and her siblings had to cope with. I did, however, hear my mother's voice, as well as my own, in this memoir as parents and children navigate a new normal. She hits the practicalities as well as the emotional turmoil. And, saddest of all, she describes her father's Alzheimer's. It's usually really difficult to review a memoir without feeling as though you are commenting on an individual's life or life choices, but that's not the case here. There are no easy choices as our parents age. Berg, however, has written about them and their passage with grace. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A worthy read.

I, too, am 70 years old and feel as shocked as if I'd just written "I am a peacock." I, too, have gone down this path with grandparents, a great aunt, in-laws, and my parents. Elizabeth describes it perfectly. While the details may be different, the "flow is the same and I cried - and laughed - along with her. Thank you for such a gift, Elizabeth.

A touching story about the author as a caregiver to her aging parents. She presented a very healthy and loving perspective. I appreciated her love and understanding of the situation.

I'll Be Seeing You is the beautifully written story of Elizabeth Berg's father's descent into Alzheimer's Disease, which results in the author and her siblings having to make the decision to move her parents out of their long time home and into a care facility. This is a difficult decision and is made more difficult by the reaction of her mother who does not want to leave her home, although she can no longer take care of her husband, the house or get around as well as she used to.

I'll Be Seeing You is fraught with the sad and hard decisions that come with breaking up the family home, making decisions for elderly parents that you don't want to have to make, especially when you are the child that lives far away and not the one who all of the care and work falls to. This novel is important reading for all of us in the sandwich generation who are taking care of our parents, taking care of our children and are getting up in age ourselves. We don't want to think about the decisions that will need to be made for our parents and for us, but the hard fact is that they will NEED to be made, often sooner than we want. This novel clarifies how difficult it can be and has made me realize that when the time comes I need to be considerate of my children if they're making decisions for me and considerate of my parents if I must make these decisions for them. As they are in their late 80s, I'm sure I'll be dealing with that sooner than I would like. An excellent novel that does make you think on the important topic of aging, whether you want to or not!

Thank you to the author, Random House and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I have always been a huge fan of Elizabeth Berg and her newest book does not disappoint. This memoir of her last few years with her parents resonates with all of us. She opens up about the fears and frustrations of watching her parents decline and the difficulties of decision making for her parents. At times there are resentments on both sides and doubts about decisions made. Berg takes us along on her journey with her siblings on going from being the child of the parents to becoming the parent of the parents. The author is extremely candid about the efforts made to ensure the best possible choices for her parents in their declining years. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book in advance.

I am a huge fan of Ms. Berg’s books and I have read all of her wonderful novels. I had the opportunity to meet her at a book reading at our local library. This memoir resonated with me, as I am experiencing this very same thing. Ms. Berg perfectly captured the astounding mix of emotions. Even the book’s title evokes musical memories. She is such a good storyteller, one of the best around. Highly recommended!

I’ll be seeing you is a poignant memoir where those, with aging parents, can readily relate. It’s reflective, sad, frightening and often mirrors an unavoidable time in many of our lives. In the beginning of this memoir, Elizabeth Berg is 70 years old and right away, this resounded with me. The book is well written and honestly written and realistically written. I think it will resound with readers on multiple levels.

We all have or had parents.
If they live into their "old age", life gets tougher.
Harder for them and certainly different and often difficult for us as the "child". We now must care for them. It's no picnic!!
Is it a blessing or a curse?
This is a memoir of Elizabeth Berg's parents as they have aged.
I would definitely recommend this book to everyone!
There is humor, love, family mixed in with sadness, truth, determination, horror and reconciliation.
What a wonderful, needed book!

I received an advance copy of, I'll Be Seeing You by, Elizabeth Berg. This is a truly great memoir, of her parents. Their love story over 60 years, even with Alzheimer's. I really liked this story, its so hard when the roles reverse.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is a memoir about the author's parents as they are in the last years of their lives. Her father is diagnosed with Alzheimer's and the family and her parents must make some difficult decisions. While this sounds like the book might be depressing, it isn't. It is the story of of a couple's love and how the diagnosis affects them. It is also the story of how a family deals with the diagnosis.

This exceptional memoir from Elizabeth Berg came to me at the most needed time. over the last few years, my family has lost three members to age, two stricken for years with Alzheimer's before their deaths. I had no idea this internal rage and sense of unfairness was a basically normal response to the death of a dear one. 'Still Alice' helped a lot with understanding the personality changes and angst involved in the lives of Edie and Ann. Mom's death should not have caught me so off-guard - she was 88 with a history of heart problems - but the habit of caring for her and her home, scurrying across the mountains to take her to doctor appointments and lab works, was such an ingrained part of my life that I still feel totally lost a year and a half out. This book helped me so much to put into perspective the letting go necessary to make life once again whole for me. Thank you, Ms. Berg, for your frankness and for sharing with us your troubles, so we can see our own in a better light.

I received a free electronic ARC of this memoir on September 29, 2020, from Netgalley, Elizabeth Berg, and Random House Publishing. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this work of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of "I'll Be Seeing You". Elizabeth Berg writes from the heart to the heart. Her novels "Talk Before Sleep" and "Range of Motion" are one's I revisit every couple of years. "I'll Be Seeing You" will be added to that short shelf of must-read-again books.

4.5 Stars

In the Prologue, the author - Elizabeth Berg - begins by saying that she is seventy years old, and is as astonished by this truth, as astonished as if she had just written ’I am a peacock.’ It made me laugh, and made me think not only of my own added up years, but how thoroughly true that has felt every year as my birthday rolled around - the difference being when we’re very young that we anxiously await being old enough to think we will be able to make our own decisions without criticism from parents or teachers or even just ‘others.’ Then she adds a memory of passing a pair of two old ladies and heard one say ”I still feel like a girl inside.”

This memoir shares her frustrations, fears, doubts and experiences as her parents declined, the anger that occasionally flared from parent to child, from parent to parent, and grown child to child-like parent. The emotions that follow watching parents decline, the slow acceptance of the new “normal” which will only be replaced too soon with more decline. And more, you see with a new appreciation those moments when they share moments you never knew about before, feelings you were never privy to before, and as your appreciation and understanding grow, so does your desire to continue to know more, to bear witness to it, along with an acceptance of what is to come.

While the way there is occasionally humorous, there is plenty of anger, sorrow and frustration along the way. I appreciated all of her story, their story, it felt so honest and was shared with so much love.


Pub Date: 27 Oct 2020

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Random House Publishing Group / Random House

I received a free ARC from Netgalley.
Elizabeth Berg is one of my favorite authors so I am a bit biased, but I just love how she draws me into her world. In this memoir, she also draws me into her parents' world as they all learn how to deal wtih aging. I laughed and cried along with Elizabeth as she shares her innermost feelings and experiences with her parents growing older and needing to sell their house, receive more care, and eventually pass away. A beautifully-written tale of the aging parent experience.

I've been looking forward to this memoir. I'm not big on memoirs but I know for a fact that if Berg has written it I probably won't be disappointed. I'm a staunch fan and have read almost all of her novels. I marvel at how she writes like women think. Each novel is so different from the others, and beginning one is much like opening a quality box of chocolates, you don't exactly know what you will get in the first bite, but you know it will be good.

One reason I enjoyed this so much is that my life has paralleled hers quite a bit insofar as how our parents affected our lives and how much they loved each other, marrying as young sweethearts, until death did they part. They were an inspiration for their offspring and beyond, even the great-grands. Dementia and Alzheimer's challenge many life-long relationships, and it's not just the person or persons afflicted with it, as it is a family as a whole that must educate oneself on the disease, learn how to cope with it without making the afflicted feel as if it's his fault he can't remember or asks questions over and over. It's a teaching experience for all.

I knew the subject matter would be heartbreaking, having been through it myself with my Dad, but knowing how Ms Berg writes, in her inimitable and realistic style, I knew she wouldn't make this a depressive read. Her touches of humor and her loving nature shines through, making this reading a rewarding experience for me. I won't tell you anymore about it. Read it for yourself.

My thanks to #NetGalley #RandomHousePublishing and #ElizabethBerg for the ARC. I am pleased to recommend this to any and all readers. A strong 4+ rating. At your favorite retailer this month. Release date 10/27/2020

The situation is common: elderly parents have to sell their family home and move into assisted living as one or both require memory and extended care. But in this memoir from Berg we see deeply into how she and her family cope with what happened to her parents about ten years ago, and track their decline and coming to terms with the new situation over the course of the better part of the year. In the form of a series of mini-vignettes, we are presented with some heart-rendering insights and very real situations. "You can tell a lot about a person by looking at what magazines they subscribe to," she mentions early on. "We find ourselves in the same position as so many others, helping both our parents and our children," describing the generation that I myself are in. And "is grief something that we only pretend others can enter into with us?" she finally asks.

Even if you aren't in a similar situation, the finely drawn descriptions and family interactions and conflicts will resonate with you. This is a wonderful memoir and well worth reading, and could help you in your own interactions with memory-challenged parents and other elders that you know and love.

I received an advance digital copy from NetGalley. I am recommending this book to everyone I know. Each page has me weeping. So many beautiful passages and lyrical sentences. I am grateful Ms. Berg shared the love story of her parents and her family's journey. My mother recently passed away and my sorrow is still raw; this book acknowledged my grief and is helping me to process it. Thank you, Elizabeth Berg and NetGalley!

I'll Be Seeing You by Elizabeth Berg is a memoir chronicling the author's continued love and devotion to her parents as they age. When her father is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, Elizabeth sees the strain that this new reality places on her eighty-eight year old mother, and the difficult decision to sell the house that her parents have shared for over forty-five years is made. During the transition, there are frustrations and tears, but also happy memories, and a renewed and fierce love that will always be an anchor to one's parents. Throughout the process, Ms Berg also reflects on her own future as she ages.

This is a heartfelt, honest, and deeply personal tribute that honours a relationship that is paramount in life, that of a child and parent. Many of the author's musings and observations will resonate quite deeply.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House for this ARC.

I'll Be Seeing You
A Memoir
by Elizabeth Berg
Read an Excerpt
Random House Publishing Group - Random House
Random House
Biographies & Memoirs
Pub Date 27 Oct 2020 | Archive Date 31 Jan 2021

What a compelling story. I could relate to this book because I helped take care of my mother in her last days too.
Alzheimer's is so hard to deal with and this book should be a must-read for any one who is aging or taking care of someone who is aging. Thanks again to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for the beautiful memoir.
5 star

I read this compelling book in one day. The subject really hit home. My husband and I are about ten years or less away from where the author was when all this happened. I also went through a similar process with my mother and mother-in-law. I think of all the frustration I had. I think everyone should read this book. It provides so much insight to both those growing old and those in charge of their care.

(I noted the embargo date at the front of the e-galley and will honor that when posting my review).
I'm a longtime fan of Elizabeth Berg's work, and enjoyed this memoir of a very difficult season she experienced with her elderly parents. Anyone in the "sandwich generation" will relate to the conflicted emotions Berg and her siblings felt as they endeavored to help their parents make the best decisions based on their ability to live independently.
At times, the author seemed detached from all that was going on. It was difficult to tell whether that was a narrative device or a coping mechanism (or perhaps a combination of both).
I have to wonder whether the author's parents would have appreciated that she shared so many personal details - she even noted that concern when the issue of old love letters came up - and whether her siblings shared those concerns. I guess that's the risk you run when writing a memoir.