Rating: 
Summary: If you like sappy unrealistic books, you'll love it; I don't
Review: My bookclub read this book and of the 10 women, only one enjoyed it. This truly is a sappy unrealistic book. What women would desert her child and husband for a dying, unlikeable, self-centered "friend"? Most of the men were written to be the enemy, and the women were stereotypical emotion binging, male bashing whiners. It is amazing to me to see that most of the people gave this book 5 stars when this book really is not literature...it could never be a classic. It is a memorable book in only one respect--it is on my list of the worst 5 books that I've ever read.
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Summary: Truly Amazing
Review: I couldn't put this book down. It is a beautifully written story - I highly recommend it to anyone who has lost someone close to cancer.
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Summary: This isn't a quirky read about cancer
Review: Most books about women dying of cancer tends to be melodramatic, but not this one. Elizabeth Berg takes you on a journey between two best friends as one of them embarks on her final journey for life. Annie and Ruth became the best of friends after meeting each other at a party. When Ruth was diagnosed with breast cancer, Annie learns the meaning of love and letting go while Ruth handles her dying with grace and humor. This is a book I would definitely recommend for friends to give to one another. Elizabeth Berg knows how to write about women ~~ how they talk, eat, live and gossip among themselves. This is a treasure about friendship. Men don't understand the connection women feel for one another ~~ how we need to laugh and cry during life's most stormiest times, and how we need our friends' love and friendship as well. Berg does a wonderful job drawing the readers into the private lives of the characters ~~ and you don't feel that you are standing on the outside either. You're drawn to Annie because of her nurturing, caretaker nature, and you're drawn to Ruth like a moth to a flame ~~ full of life and laughter. If you haven't read this book yet, I would suggest you do so soon. Breast cancer is still the number one killer among women and though this book doesn't really talk about cancer itself, it does talk about love, friendship, survival and death. It is a book to treasure ~~ to pass on between friends, mothers and daughters.
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Summary: An Audio Review
Review: Being such a fan of Elizabeth Berg's, I have hesitated until now to write a review of any of her works, worrying that I won't do her justice. But I just recently purchased the audio version of "Talk Before Sleep" and enjoyed it immensley. Unfortunately I could only get my hands on the abridgement, but it was definitely worth the purchase! Beth Fowler does a wonderful job. She captures the feeling perfectly. The women's voices sound true as when you read the story. Fowler slightly alters her tone or pitch with the different characters, but the effort isn't overdone and therefor not distracting or false-sounding. The abridgement is well done too. None of the gems have been taken out of the story. I've listened to the production about 5 times now, mostly while in the bath. (I've got great hot water here, it's hard to get out of the tub!) Do yourself a favor and track down these tapes!
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Summary: A BOOK THAT BROUGHT LAUGHTER & TEARS
Review: Anyone who has a best friend that has been with them through thick and thin will love this book! I would hope that if my best friend or I ever went through such an ordeal that we would be like Ruth and Ann, supporting each other and crying together. My sister has the book now and there is a line waiting after her. I can't wait to read the rest of Elizabeth Berg's books.
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Summary: Touching Story about True Friendship
Review: Elizabeth Berg tells the story of true friendship between two women Ruth and Ann. Ruth is dying from Breast Cancer and she is being taken care of by Ann and some of her other friends LD, Sarah, and Helen. I really liked the character of LD who wouldn't give up hope until the end no matter how much they told her that Ruth's death was inevitable. But the best part of the story is the friendship shared between Ruth and Ann, a friendship that strong is very rare to find today. I truly enjoyed reading this book and has to be one of Ms. Berg's best.
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Summary: Makes you want to call your friends right away
Review: This book touched me deeply. A wonderful book that describes very well the last days of cancer. The friendships surrounding Ruth during her illness and the support she recieves from her best friend Ann are true and heartfelt. It is written with touching sadness and just enough humor to get you through to the next page. A must read for anyone who is fortunate enough to have a best friend.
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Summary: Life Changing
Review: This novel is a MUST READ to any woman with a best friend! Reading "Talk Before Sleep" was a life changing experience. I tend, as most women, to have one or two close friends. When I read this novel, I was amazed at the way that Ms. Berg captured those friendships into words. After readng the book, (in less than a day) I then reread it, and passed it along to my best friend. She and I both saw ourselves in the main characters of the book. And, a few months later, my friend was also diagonsed with cancer. During her treatment, we both lived the closeness and love felt by the characters of the book. Her story, thanks to prayer and a wonderful medical staff, has a much better ending. She has beaten pancreatic cancer and is living and laughing with us today. Thanks to Ms. Berg, we did not feel ashamed at being scared, crying, laughing, and praying together during her terrible illness.
Rating: 
Summary: Could have been so much more
Review: Talk Before Sleep has a touching plot, but the characters are so sketchily drawn that it's hard to care that much about their story. The women and men were very simplistic (good and bad), and I felt like I hardly even knew some of the characters at all, in particular Helen and Sarah. Even Ann herself wasn't very well developed. Another problem with the character development was that although Ruth was the most fully drawn of all the characters, she was not particularly likable. One major problem I had with her was that she married Eric not knowing whether the baby she was carrying was his or not. I just don't see how Ruth can be oh-so-good and Eric oh-so-bad after she did something as dishonest, deceitful, and immoral as that. Furthermore- I was a little confused about this part- but I think that Joel, who appears at the end of the story shortly before Ruth dies, is the man who could have fathered Michael. Ruth could have told him this, yet she chooses not to reveal her secret. Was that a fair decision? Or did Joel deserve to know that Michael could have been his son? And should Michael have known that Joel might be his biological father? I also found the ending very disappointing. I kept waiting for some sort of reflection from Ann about her own marriage, but none ever came. I was hoping that some good would be able to come from the bad- that as a result of this devastating ordeal with Ruth, Ann would be able to learn from Ruth's life experiences and apply this new wisdom to her own life to bring some meaning to it. But she never did. As Ruth came to terms with her death, she reflected back on her life and the decisions she made- good and bad. She was able to see things more clearly. Why didn't Ann learn from Ruth? Why didn't she go back to her own marriage and make some sort of change- whether it be leaving her husband or trying harder to make her marriage work? Instead, she just went back to the way things were, unsatisfying and unfulfilling. Ann had a golden opportunity to learn from Ruth and yet she didn't see it. This was a decent story with an important plot and some touching passages about women and friendship. However, due mostly to the under developed, unsympathetic characters and the lack of Ann's insight, overall Talk Before Sleep was a bit disappointing.
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Summary: Talk Before Sleep
Review: I just finished this amazing book, and needed to say something about it to someone. Elizabeth Berg seems to somehow say the feelings we all feel, but cannot put into words- and I truely thank her for that. The relationship between 2 woman who did not like each other at first, turns into a very personnal and moving relationship.I went through a similar experiance with a close friend who died of leukemia, and we had the same conversations Ruth and Ann had about what lifes all about- that you want to go back and redo every stupid thing you've ever done;- you want to make it easier for the person left behind, and that in the end it's O.K.- that you see things so much clearer than you ever had before. How can she see this other than experiencing it first hand? Losing a good friend is not easy, and reading this put a warm quilt blanket around my shoulders and said,- yes, it's alright and this is how it is. I want to get in contact with the author- any suggestions? A wonderful book, if you're not afraid to look at life as it is, and where you are going.
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