The Operator by Gretchen Berg

Just the cover of The Operator grabs me…the old rotary phone of my childhood kitchen (also actually my kitchen when we first moved into our home, and honestly, the wallpaper), the phone where you only needed to dial the last four numbers of your neighbor’s line because you shared an exchange. Simpler times. The Operator is a period piece taking place in the 1950s in small town Ohio. Vivian Dalton works the switchboard for Bell, connecting lines and often listening in to her neighbor’s phone calls. Her daughter Charlotte, a high school sophomore, is a big reader and seems destined to go to college and leave small town life behind. Vivian didn’t finish school, and that lack of an education puts her on the defensive with the other ladies in town, especially Betty Miller. Knowing their gossip fortifies her. One night, Vivian listens to Betty’s call and hears an unknown voice talking about Vivian’s husband. She does not like what she hears…

I enjoyed The Operator. I am always game for a debut novel, especially from the 50s. Berg brought me right back to my growing up neighborhood where albeit there was less gossip, but everyone knew everyone and everyone pulled together to help a family with a new baby, a sick parent, or a newly working mom. I liked the writing, I liked the premise, and I found the characters intriguing. Getting to know them and their secrets peeled back some interesting layers. I also liked exploring the price of gossip, hearing secrets, and what characters ultimately did with what they learned. If you aren’t up for yard work or laundry or whatever new skill you thought you would learn during the pandemic, pick up a copy of The Operator and get lost in the past for a few hours.