‘The Last Time I Saw You’ by Elizabeth Berg

I recently attended my 30th high school reunion and saw people who I hadn’t seen since we graduated. It was wonderful to reconnect with old friends, many I had known since grade school. The years spent in high school can hold many memories, good and bad. I loved high school, so most of my memories were good ones.

High school reunions can bring those memories bubbling to the surface years later and many people attend these reunions for a variety of different reasons — chief among them curiosity to see how everyone turned out and the desire to see old friends and reconnect.

In Elizabeth Berg’s new novel, “The Last Time I Saw You,” she takes a look at how attending a high school reunion affects the lives of several classmates.

It’s been 40 years since the Clear Springs High School class of 1970 graduated, and while there had been previous reunions, this year’s event was special. It would be the last “official” reunion for the class. And as old classmates poured back into their hometown, many would attend the reunion with a specific purpose.

Dorothy Shauman is coming specifically to see an old crush, Pete Decker. Dorothy has dieted and worked until she has herself in prime condition to snag the object of her high school desires, but will Pete even take notice of her?

Even after suffering a stress-induced heart attack, Pete Decker is determined to attend this reunion to try and reconnect with his ex-wife Nora, but Nora is coming with her new boyfriend. And poor Pete, the former football stud, is frankly, quite a mess.

Lester Hessenpfeffer never left the area he grew up in and is now a successful veterinarian, but in high school he was known as quite a nerd. Now a widower, Lester is attending the reunion partly out of curiosity, partly to meet with a fellow vet, and mostly because he’d like to see Candy Armstrong, the class beauty.

Candy has retained her beauty, but her life is anything but serene. Given a diagnosis of a life-threatening illness, she attends the reunion, despite the objections of her domineering husband, hoping to reconnect with those who knew her when.

Mary Alice Mayhew was a quiet awkward girl in high school, the object of many taunts and torment. A self-assured woman now, she is coming to the reunion to see if her memories of her classmates are still true today. Accompanied by her elderly neighbor, Mary Alice finds an unexpected hero and a surprising chance at a late-in-life love.

As the classmates gather for the reunion dinner, they find changes in each other, but they also find that, despite the years apart, there is still closeness and, for the most part, a familiar bond that is still strong.

Author of 22 books, including the Oprah’s Book Club selection “Open House,” Elizabeth Berg once again thrills her fans as she captures the angst, anxiety and anticipation of a typical high school reunion in “The Last Time I Saw You.” Her characters are diverse and compelling, and the story is fast paced, bouncing from story line to story line. She brings everyone together for an exciting final gathering that will remain in the memories of her readers for a long time. This is a thoroughly enjoyable novel that anyone who has attended a high school reunion will love and understand completely.