The Dream Lover, Elizabeth Berg 4 stars

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The Dream Lover

By Elizabeth Berg

For women of a certain age, Elizabeth Berg has often written cathartic books that recognize and validate women’s emotions surrounding relationships, family and aging.  Her newest book, The Dream Lover takes a different avenue through  historical fiction.  The Dream Lover is the fictional biography of Romantic writer George Sand.

The Dream Lover alternates between the story’s past, the childhood and youth of Aurore Dupin, George Sand’s given name, and the story’s present, shortly before her death as the fully realized nom de plume George Sand.  We experience her family home, in Nohant, France, an idyllic country estate, and we experience the rude apartments where she lives in Paris, both with her courtesan mother as well as her many artistic lovers. 

The book portrays Sand’s life as one of contrasts: she is strong and disciplined when it comes to her writing; she is weak and easily influenced when it comes to her loves, which range from her children, her God, her best female friend, the composer Chopin and several other famous artists of the day. We also see Sand in one scene as nearly frigid, lying bored as her husband completes his manly duties, but then becoming more than skillful as she administers to her most elusive lover, the actress Marie Dorval.  Berg’s skill lets us feel both the elation and the despair Sand experiences with both her work and these relationships, in a society that both adores and despises her.  It lets us accept the paradox.

As a reader, I confess to tiring of the parade of lovers for whom George Sand fell completely and quickly, as well as her ability to be finished with them when the next good prospect came along.  The book takes the tone of a mid 19^th century woman, and at times the descriptions of the scenery and the different characters becomes a bit tedious. It is Sand’s passion, brought so well to the page, that keeps the work moving.

As a respected member of the artistic society of mid century France, the people with whom Sand spent her time fascinate in their own right, and more so in their dealings with Sand. Flaubert, Chopin, Balzac, Hugo and many others appear throughout her adult life and their historical gifts make it no wonder that Sand fell for so many of them. With her men’s clothing, donned to gain access to performances at less expense, public cigar smoking and passion for equality, George Sand not only held her own in this group of free thinkers and creatives, she added to the movement that became the foundation of modern society: equality between sexes and classes, voting rights, the ability to own property, divorce and many more. Berg brings this vital woman to life in her story.

 I didn’t read George Sand in school, and didn’t know much about her.  This book piqued my interest in this larger than life woman, causing me to do more research.  What I’ve discovered is that George Sand may have been for the mid 19^th century woman what writers like Elizabeth Berg are for us today.  By telling her stories, letting her characters experience fully the passions and possibilities of their otherwise structured lives, she gave voice to feelings and passions that were not readily nor easily discussed.  

I received this ebook  review copy from NetGalley.  The book is available for pre-order now, for release on April 15, 2015. The Dream Lover, Elizabeth Berg