Talk Before Sleep

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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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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: She has done better
Review: Even so I read the book in two days and was touched by it, I have to say that Elizabetz Berg has done better. Unlike in 'Range of motion' or her 'Katie-books' for example, the dramatic moments in this one often feel forced and tasteless. The character of the nurse remains flat and lifeless, the other characters often seem very exaggerated. It almost feels as if Berg tried to fill the story with life by adding different stereotypes, like Sarah, the efficient, pretty, petit businesswoman and L.D., the baseball cap wearing, bulky lesbian with a crew cut.
So all in all it was a disappointing book, especially since one is spoiled by Berg's previous excellent work.

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Summary: Runs the entire gamut of cancer
Review: From the diagnosis, to the denial, to the intimidating medical lingo, to the fear and unknown of dying, "Talk Before Sleep" is one of the most realistic pieces of fiction that I have ever read.

Beautiful, glowing, take-no-prisoners Ruth lives to the fullest. And then the unthinkable -- breast cancer, surgery, chemo and the exhausting fight to survive, a war waged not only by Ruth, but by her friends, Ann, Sarah, L.D., and Helen. Told through Ann, we see Ruth slowly deteriorate as the cancer spreads and she must face death head-on. This is a soul searching book that asks questions we would all benefit from considering. The questions go beyond the theological into the realm of self-examination. How have I lived? What would I do differently? How do I want to die? Am I living every moment? Ruth's pain is well expressed, but so is the pain borne by her friends. We see the agony and denial, the reality and the fear that the four women who love Ruth the most must endure as they try to support and ease Ruth in her final days.

This book is not just a depressing look at a painful death. It is a celebration of a beautiful woman who enjoyed life and squeezed what she could from it to the very end. It's also about the legacy and the spirit we leave behind. I confess I cried, something only two other books have been able to cause.

Very well done!

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Summary: superb read
Review: I agree with other reviews that this reads as reality, not fiction. The saddest part thing about this book is that it ended. The friendship of the women in this story is envious and admirable.
Gutsy story that teaches how to live honestly, how to be a friend and how to die with dignity. You MUST read this

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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: A book that sticks with you & teach you some life lessons...
Review: It is not often that a book will teach you a life lesson but this one does. Talk Before Sleep is a wonderful story centered around 2 friends, one of whom is dying of breast cancer. Have you ever wondered what you would do if you knew you were dying? That is what the characters face as they know the end is near. The book makes us stop and be grateful that we have today and thankful for all the people in our lives, especially good friends who are there to help us not only to die, but to live.

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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: A great novel, but so sad.
Review: Talk Before Sleep" is the story of Ann and Ruth and their friendship, told from the point-of-view of Ann. We learn right from the start of the story that Ruth has been diagnosed with breast cancer, that there is nothing else that can be done for her, and that she is dying. The book shows the development of the womens' friendship from the time they meet, and more than anything else, I think the author tries to show the strong bonds of love and friendship that exist between the women and how special and unique a "best friendship" can be. Much of the time, it almost feels as if the novel is nonfiction, and Berg admits in an author's note that she lost a friend to breast cancer and wanted to write about that experience.

The novel is short, around 200 pages, and I finished reading it in only a few hours. I have to admit that I found the story very difficult to read--not because it was badly written, but because it was so tragic and sad. It did make me a cry (a lot), but the tears didn't feel cathartic. I hate to sound so dramatic, but I felt depressed and grief-stricken by the time I reached the end.