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Summary: Tremendous writing -- this book will change you.
Review: Truly wonderful short novel about two best friends, one of whom is dying of breast cancer and is near the end of her life when the story begins. This is a look not only at what it's like for the patient, but at how hard it is for someone to watch a loved one leave this world -- and not be able to do ANYTHING to stop it. All the feelings are here -- the guilt, the fear, the frustration, and the sorrow -- and they are so eloquently described that by the end of the book, you will be exhausted. As exhausted as the characters themselves. And this is what made me love this book so much -- it's so sad, it's so hard to read, but when was the last time a book moved me like this? Berg says in the foreward that this book is actually based on her own experience as a friend watching a friend die from breast cancer and I believe it. Only someone who'd really been through it could make the rest of us feel like we had too. But this book isn't all about death and sorrow -- it's also about how bright someone's light can be, even in the face of extraordinary darkness. This book made me laugh out loud. And then it made me cry myself to sleep. How wonderful is that? Answer: darn wonderful.
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Summary: One of the Best Books I've Ever Read
Review: I have read many of Elizabeth Berg's books but I must say that this one by far is the best. This is the love story between two women, not as lovers, but as friends sharing a special bond that only two women could have with each other. Ruth,one of the two main characters has been diagnosed with and is dying from breast cancer. Ann is her supportive, loving best friend. Berg writes in such a manner that the reader feels like she is in Ruth's house with Ruth and Ann, part of their exclusive friendship. The reader can imagine being on the jaunts with Ruth and Ann that they reflect upon throughout much of the story. Supporting characters are well-developed and integrated into the story in a believable manner. L.D. the somewhat "butch" friend has a strong, outgoing personality and says what's on her mind, but we are treated to the soft side of her soul when she rocks Ruth on her lap in a rocking chair because Ruth is too weak to sit up alone. Sarah, Ruth's boss is a sweetly feminine friend who is woven into the story probably to contrast with L.D, but who nevertheless holds her own as a supporting character. Finally, there is Ann. Who wouldn't want a friend like her? Though at times she seems a bit like a martyr, giving up time with her family (her young daughter Meggie and her husband Joe)to be with Ruth, Ann becomes a hero and the best friend we all yearn to have. The reader feels Ann's anguish over losing her best friend, her soulmate. This novel was so touching that I thought about it all day after I finished it. Elizabeth Berg writes from a very sensitive, caring, understanding viewpoint about a subject that usually we don't want to discuss. Berg allows us to feel and think what it must be like to know your days are numbered.
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Summary: Good read; tough subject
Review: This story will make you think about a subject we really don't like to. Solely because of its subject matter, the story is sad but the strength of the bond of friendship is inspiring. The writer present a well composed piece of work, easy to read in its structure. Worth reading!
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Summary: How does one cope with Death of a loved one?
Review: Elizabeth Berg's TALK BEFORE SLEEP is the story of a friendship. Ruth is dying from cancer, and her best friend Ann is trying to cope. We see things mostly through the eyes of Ann. Through flashbacks we find out how they met, how they felt about each other and what brought them together. Both are married and both have a child, but each of them are like night and day. Ruth lived life to the fullest and always took risks. Ann seemed to be the more conservative of the two, but that didn't stop them from being friends. The book was about how Ann and Ruth's other closest friends helped Ruth and each other prepare for her death. Be prepared for a lot of tears, especially by the end of the book. I felt that this was probably one of my favorite Elizabeth Berg books, and as usual, I was not let down.
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Summary: Poetic, funny, heartwrenching; a MUST-READ for all women!
Review: "Talk Before Sleep" celebrates women's friendship with some of the most poetic and touching language you'll ever read! In each scene as Ruth, Ann, and assorted other women friends gather for Ruth's final weeks, you'll laugh, fight, and ache along with each of them. When the inevitable does come, you'll cry for Ruth as you would for any of the women you hold dear in your "real life." This is a truly moving story, made even more satisfying by Berg's exceptional writing. It will dare you to think about possibilities you'd never have imagined before, and as a result, you'll appreciate your friends, your sisters, your mother SO much more after reading it. Gift-giving was easy last Christmas: I gave a copy of this book to every woman I know!
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Summary: Written in classic Berg style
Review: In 'Talk Before Sleep' Elizabeth Berg displays the dynamics of the female friendship in such a moving and realistic way that this could be a true story, only it's not. Berg explains that she wrote the story to help sort out her experiences during her own friend's death, and this connection between herself and her characters keeps them real and alive. You will not often find a book in which the characters so confidently propel the story forward. Ruth is dying of caner, it's plain and simple. Though she toys with the idea of 'curing' herself, it's pretty apparent that she will be leaving her friends before she should have to. But like so many of Berg's books, this story is really about Ann, Ruth's maternally-inclined friend, who temporarily sacrifices her husband and daughter to care for Ruth in her home. While Ann is waiting on Ruth hand and foot (emotionally, physically and medically) there is plenty of time for flashbacks that take the reader through the women's friendship; through divorces and children and all the messy stuff that life is made of. While Ruth's other friends also play intricate parts in the story, the focus really is on Ann and what she will choose to retain from her friendship with Ruth and this phase of her life. Even though the subject is somewhat grim, I enjoyed reading this book. One thing that is always consistent in Berg's writing is that she doesn't skip over the less-attractive parts of the human nature, so when you're reading you find yourself easily relating to one or more of her characters. Reading is so often such a solitary thing, but when it becomes interactive it stays with you.
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Summary: Berg doesn't take the easy road
Review: She could EASILY have seduced us into tears with just the death of the character. But, no, Berg is much too good to resort to that. She lets her reader fall as in love with the dying woman as the friend telling the story. We grieve her loss as deeply as if it were someone we knew. This is more the story of female friendship than it is about cancer. And it is very well done. Just an excellent book all the way around.
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Summary: The laughter and intimacy of women¿s friendship
Review: The fact that one of the two main characters is dying of breast cancer doesn't set the tone of this book by prolific Elizabeth Berg; it just puts the friendship between these women in sharp focus and makes us prize them even more. Although in the hands of another author, the dissimilar characters of Talk Before Sleep might become stereotypical caricatures, Berg does not succumb to this pitfall. All the characters have realistically sympathetic as well as irritating qualities.
Although lovers, husbands, and children are important elements that receive their fair share of page time, it is the supreme depth of friendship between women that is honored in this lovely book. It's a quality that men rarely experience, share, or even understand. Read this book - and then make a donation to breast cancer research.
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Summary: A story of women's friendships in the shadow of cancer
Review: As the book opens, Ann prepares to leave for the home of her best friend, Ruth, who has breast cancer. By the time the book begins, Ruth has already been through treatment and there is nothing more that the doctors can do for her, but through flashbacks, we discover not only the story of Ruth's diagnosis but also the development of Ann and Ruth's amazing friendship. The story is told from Ann's perspective, but the book also features several of Ruth's other friends, which gives the reader a window into how a group of diverse women might react to a friend's illness: Ann, confused by unfailingly loyal and supportive; LD., the tough one who refuses to believe that Ruth's situation is hopeless; Sarah, the practical one who takes flack from the others; and Helen, Ruth's childhood friend. The characters are very real, and the various aspects of the story ring true, from Ruth's confusion over her marriage to the reactions of Ann's school-age daughter. An enjoyable book about love, loss, and--most importantly--women's friendships.
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Summary: I love Elizabeth Berg!
Review: Do you have an author that you continually go back to, like an old friend or comfort food...somebody who makes you feel good, even when the subject matter is about divorce, dying, or sickness. For me, that author is Elizabeth Berg. "Talk Before Sleep" is about girlfriends loving one another, even when the situation is intolerable, unbearable, unspeakable. Ruth is diagnosed w/cancer and her friends gather around her like lionesses protecting their cub...comforting her, laughing with her, feeding her chocolate. Berg writes as if she is sitting across the table from you at dinner, and we are nodding yes, yes. We understand. Because we have girl-friends like the characters in her books. We have girl-friends that we would dread not to have in our lives, to love and pour our souls out to. "I will miss you." Ann crys.
"You will feel me near an open window," Ruth says. "I will be the breeze that brushes against your face." ---Talk Before Sleep--- I keep going back to Berg because her words taste good...I know her characters. They are people I know. They are me.
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