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    Range of Motion
    Range of Motion
    Range of Motion
    Audiobook5 hours

    Range of Motion

    Written by Elizabeth Berg

    Narrated by Tanya Eby

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    “A simple but intensely moving story about the redemptive power of love…. [Elizabeth Berg is] a writer whose luminous prose is likely to stay with you a long, long time.” —Chicago Tribune

    In this exquisite, emotionally rich novel, New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Berg offers a deeply satisfying story about the bonds of love and the balm of friendship. A young man named Jay lies in a coma after suffering a freak accident, and his wife, Lainey, is the only one who believes he will recover. She sits at his bedside, bringing him reminders of the ordinary life they shared: fragrant flowers, his children’s drawings, his own softly textured shirt. When Lainey’s faith in his recovery falters, she is sustained by two women, Alice and Evie, who teach her about the endurance of friendship—and the genuine power of hope. Filled with beautiful writing and truths about life, Range of Motion is hard to put down and impossible to forget.

    “A stunning, believable, funny novel that celebrates the unassuming invincibility of the human spirit.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune

    “A luminous, bittersweet, almost mystical meditation on the unexpected, often hidden, joys found in the least likely of places.” —San Francisco Chronicle

    “The terrifically talented Berg at her best.” —People

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateOct 1, 2013
    ISBN9781480501386
    Range of Motion
    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 Range of Motion

    4/5

    269 ratings18 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I started this book and then let it sit, for many months, before I picked it up again. I guess I was put off by the combination of the premise and the title. Premise: protagonist's husband is hit by a falling piece of ice and is being moved from the hospital to a nursing home, still in a coma, as the book begins. The title, of course, is "Range of Motion," which implies physical therapy. Now my husband is a physical therapist, so I shouldn't be put off, but I have mental pictures of depressing scenes in a nasty nursing-home setting.What I should have remembered is how much I love Elizabeth Berg's work. The books of hers that I have already read are about women with imagination, peace of mind, and a lively internal monologue, and this is no exception. Rather than focusing on the terror of what life could be like if her husband never recovers, she is buoyed by her hopes, everyday joys, and the pleasures of friends.Read it!
    • 4/5
      Lainey's life is turned upside down when her husband winds up in a coma following a freak accident. She is the only one who thinks he will "wake up" and she visits him daily, bringing him some stimulus from their life in an effort to awaken him. It's a touching and romantic story (without being mushy).
    • 4/5
      I liked this book a great deal and found a lot in it to recommend. While I have read better by Elizabeth Berg, I truly enjoyed this one, warmed right away to the characters, especially Alice and Flozell. I would love for her to do a sequel on him. Read it, you will like it.
    • 5/5
      She has such a way of writing about all types of relationships to the point that I can relate it to my own life. This was the first of her books I read and I was hooked.
    • 4/5
      Such a lovely story about love and longing.
    • 4/5
      Lainey and Jay have what appears to be a perfect marriage, until it all comes crashing down, literally! Jay left the house that morning for work and an ice cycle hanging over his head broke, rendering Jay immovable. Lainey confides her fears that Jay may never come out of the coma to her dear friend and neighbor Alice, and it is their relationship that makes this book strong. Alice is stable, predictable, someone to count on. She gladly watches Lainey's two young daughters as day after day Lainey visits Jay in the nursing home as he lies in a coma state. Gradually Lainey brings soft memories that might open his mind and heart to regain what they once had.And, as Lainey shares her fears, and Alice outlines exactly why she believes her husband is cheating on her, the two laugh and cry.This is very much what I've come to rely on regarding Berg's writing. There are soft images of difficult days handled the best one can possible know how to navigate. The love is real and solid, and the heartbreak of betrayal for Alice and uncertainty for Lainey create a very strong, unbreakable bond.Thanks to my friend Diane Keenoy for bringing the books of Elizabeth Berg into my life!
    • 4/5
      I labeled this as romance in the sense that I use the word (although knowing that others use it differently): A story with an ending which is too positive to be believable...and which is perhaps a little too predictable. Notwithstanding that criticism, there are elements of this book that I did like. It's certainly an easy, quick read and I guess I used it as a light palate-refreshing sorbet between heavier courses. There are some quite good observations about nursing homes and the main character's neighbour has an interesting marriage relationship which gives the reader a contrast with the narrator's relationship. Coming to terms with the fact that your partner has had a head injury and is in a coma that may last 'forever' is a good scenario to explore, I think, and Berg does quite a good job for me. I read quite a lot of her work a while ago and have kind of moved on from there except that I found this one in my To Be Read pile recently. On reflection now, I think what I and others like most about her writing is the "this could be happening to me" factor. Even though the ending might be a little romantically optimistic, the vast majority of this story does seem to be believable (if I imagine myself as a white middle class American woman).
    • 3/5
      Quick, addictive read.
    • 4/5
      I liked this novel for its ability to describe the emotional roller coaster of grief and the grace of marriage. Lainey's nuts and, Jay, lays unresponsive in a coma while she tries to remain positive that he will wake. Even though my experience of grief is different from Lainey's character, so much of what was expressed in this novel resonated with my experiences.
    • 4/5
      The is a tender story of love, hope and dedication. Jay, Lainey's husband, was struck by falling ice and is in a coma that has lasted months. Lainey visits daily, bringing anything she can think of that might rouse him: familiar clothing, spices, etc. She talks with him believing he can hear and she can reach him. She brings her children and copes with their unpredictable and sometimes painful reactions. She befriends other patients and nurses.Lainey's neighbor, Alice, is endlessly supportive but suffers in her own marriage. The main characters are very well rendered.
    • 5/5
      As usual Elizabeth Berg is at both heartbreaking and wondrously celebratory as she tackles living and maybe dying and loving . . . I love her eye for detail and her ability to nail the things we often feel but don't express--maybe because we're afraid, or maybe because we're too busy . . .
    • 5/5
      The story, nominally, follows Lainey (Elaine Berman) as she works her way through a life irrevocably changed by the fact that her husband is in a coma. She has two young daughters, and a best friend next door. Lainey's world revolves around her children, her husband and her neighbour, and we get to know them intimately through her eyes. And then there are the incidental characters, the nurses and the other patients, the other patients' families. Berg colours each of them in language so economical that it is incredible how very real they seem, even the least of them. And there is the setting -- Lainey's house being the location that takes on character-like qualities itself.This is, first and foremost, a love story. And it's a story about ordinary people trying to make things happen and make life work. It is one of the most wonderful stories about human beings I have ever read.Lainey makes a brilliant, familiar, engaging, and very observant narrator for us to enter her story. There are a few instances where the book slips from sweet to saccharine and then further to cliché, but these are relatively few and far between. It is the kind of book set in a world and populated by people that the reader feels are probably too good to be true, but she can hope. And some of it is so honest and familiar that the reader knows that the pieces that matter are real.
    • 4/5
      A man walking along a sidewalk is hit on the head by a chunk of ice & is in a coma. His wife is devastated & tries to carry on her life, taking care of their family & doing all she can to help her husband recover. The details of daily living, the frustrations, the help of friends & strangers all make this story real enough that I wept & rejoiced as the events unfolded.
    • 1/5
      Not so good. This one made me very depressed and worried about my husband ending up in a coma and how crappy that would be. I think I need to quit reading her books because they make me worry too much.
    • 3/5
      A quick read - not too bad. Some of the emotions were well expressed. Some times it veered off into airy-fairy land and it was not completely effective in describing such devestating situations for Lainey and Alice, but Berg gave it a go and quite a good effort.
    • 4/5
      Not my favorite of her books; but still a good read.
    • 5/5
      She has such a way of writing about all types of relationships to the point that I can relate it to my own life. This was the first of her books I read and I was hooked.
    • 5/5
      A great read! As usual, Berg is exceptional!