Good beginning but goes downhill

I was very annoyed by the end of this book. While it started out interesting and I really liked the character of Betta, about halfway through the book when she moves into the dumpy house with the guy she meets in a coffee shop I lost interest. I found that totally unbelievable. And the whole thing about her friends coming to visit her after not talking to them for thirty years.........give me a break.

Healing and even spiritual

I did not want this soulful novel to end. Deeply satisfying... I found the character quite believable, although of course a little spoiled and pampered, like other upper middle class Berg characters in the past. But I cared so deeply, and felt her pain. I copied down one of Betta's aphorisms -- that "Healing hurts, but Hurting heals". There was a spriritual core to Betta that I identified with. She comes across as a woman in mid-life who is so much like women I know, in search of an authentic self. It is very interesting to read all these reviews and see that readers either love or hate The Year of Pleasures. I feel sorry for those who did not find it a pleasure, because I sure did!

Engaging voice, but could have been so much more

This book must be good because I am still thinking about it, but I am also kind of annoyed. The author knows how to write in a voice that makes you feel like you are listening to a friend, however, it seemed like there were so many stories wanting to be told that were never really developed here. I kept reading because I wanted to find out where Berg was going with all of this and because the narrator's voice was engaging. Somewhere around page 100 or so, I realized that there may never be an actual plot but just a bunch of incidents that happen to her in her new life. I guess that I'm glad that I read it because it was somewhat enjoyable, but I wish Berg would have finished some of the false starts that she created rather than just leaving them to sit there. Parts of the book were very well written and brought tears to my eyes. Other parts seemed like bad scenes from a Lifetime Channel movie.