Gretchen Berg grew up in the US Midwest and now lives in Oregon. She has always been curious about history and families, and has a personal family tree of over 16,000 people. Her family research started with her own grandmother's little brown notebook full of details, and it was the story of her grandmother - herself a switchboard operator in Wooster, Ohio, in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s - that inspired THE OPERATOR.
'Funny, sweet, secretive, and full of fascinating 1930s, 40s, and 50s period details, The Operator is a poignant look at life in a small town with its nosy neighbors, thorny families, imperfect romances, scandalous pasts, and gratifyingly just deserts. Nothing is as simple - nor as dreadful - as it seems' * Laurie Frankel * 'What if you could listen in on any phone conversation in town? With great humor and insight, The Operator by Gretchen Berg delivers a vivid look inside the heads and hearts of a group of housewives and pokes at the absurdities of 1950s America, a simpler time that was far from simple. Think The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in the suburbs with delicious turns of jealousy, infidelity, bigotry, and embezzlement thrown in for good measure. The Operator is irresistible!' * Kathryn Stockett * 'Just finished THE OPERATOR in an unstoppable rush and it was every bit as glorious, gossipy, delicious and perfect as I'd hoped. Absolutely heaven!' * Jill Mansell *