Made me think about how important friends are to us.
Great quick read about the power of friendship, love, and family through loss.
The subject matter of this book is heartwrenching. It's the story of a woman who is dying from cancer. I usually am a big cry baby but this book is so lovingly written that I only cried at the very end. These women seemed so real and likable. I would recommend this book to anyone who might be going through a difficult time with a cancer patient. What a way to go!
They met at a party. It was hate at first site. Ruth was far too beautiful, too flamboyant. Not at all Ann's kind of person. Until a chance encounter in the bathroom led to an alliance of souls. Soon they are sharing hankies during the late showing of Sophie's Choice, wolfing down sundaes sodden with whipped cream, telling truths of marriage, mortality, and love..secure in a kind of intimacy no man could ever know. Only best friends understand devil's food cake for breakfast when nothing else will do. After years of shared secrets, guilty pleasurese, family life and divorce, they face a crisis that redefines the meaning of friendship and unconditional love. This is the story of Ruth. Of Ann. And all of us who wonder what we'd say if words were not enough.
A painful, gripping story about two best friends, Ann and Ruth, and Ruth's ultimate death of cancer. The women met when they both were in their late 30s, and for the 4 or 5 years of their friendship, Ann has been the follower and pupil to Ruth's exhilarating and thought-provoking leadership and teaching. Ruth has forced Ann to examine her comfortable life with her husband and child by her example of freedom and independence. She seems to be everything Ann is afraid or unable to be-beautiful, artistic, appealing to both sexes, and self-confident. Her love life thrives and her times with Ann provide excitement and challenges. When Ruth is diagnosed with terminal cancer, Ann, once a nurse, becomes the mainstay of the small group of women who surround their friend, but feels little in common with them. Readers realize, along with Ann, how important relationships can be, and how important it is to communicate feelings and be honest. Ruth is the catalyst for self-discovery on the part of each of the figures, and her own discoveries are satisfying.
Great read...sad, but very touching.
from the back of the book:
"I didn't think a book about a dying friend could make me laugh out loud. But Talk Before Sleep did. It also made me cry and think about life and death and how much I treasure my friends and family. Tal Before Sleep was a miraculous combination: a book that was good to read that was also good for me"
Elizabeth Crow,
Editor in Chief, Mademoiselle
