- Paperback: 368 pages
- Publisher: Ballantine Books; Reprint edition (25 Jan 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0345462165
- ISBN-13: 978-0345462169
- Product Dimensions: 13.5 x 2.1 x 20.3 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,873,012 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
A Blessed Event: A Novel
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
How much is too much to ask of friendship? How long will the bonds of family endure when confronted with swift, unexpected change? These are the intimate questions Jean Reynolds Page poses in A Blessed Event, her assured and powerful literary debut.
Joanne Timbro and Darla Stevens have grown up in a small Texas town, their childhood homes separated only by adjoining back yards. Although the families inside these houses have little in common, the two girls find in each other a rare friendship that will take them into their adult lives; a friendship that makes them stronger together than either could be alone.
Then as young women, Darla and Jo enter into an agreement that will startle everyone who cares for them. After years of watching Darla’s heartbreaking failure to have a baby with her husband, Cal, Joanne agrees to give birth to the child that Darla cannot have on her own.
But in the early morning hours of a warm July morning, everything changes. Joanne, then four months pregnant, is driving a car that veers off the road near the home that Darla shares with Cal. In the days and months that follow, Darla must face for the first time in her memory, the possibility of life without Jo. As Darla tries to uncover the secrets that brought her friend out onto the highway in those dark morning hours, she discovers that she must also fight to keep the baby that was intended to be her child.
With the child’s fate hanging in the balance, Darla searches for clues to Jo’s strange behavior leading up to the crash. In the process, she discovers truths that hide in her own life: in her marriage, in her closest friendships, and in a past that has suddenly reemerged, full of unfolding secrets.
Tender and heartbreaking, hopeful and honest, A Blessed Event brings life’s everyday experiences into bright focus, contrasting beautifully the pain of suffering with the sublime joys of surviving—and truly living.
From the Hardcover edition.
Joanne Timbro and Darla Stevens have grown up in a small Texas town, their childhood homes separated only by adjoining back yards. Although the families inside these houses have little in common, the two girls find in each other a rare friendship that will take them into their adult lives; a friendship that makes them stronger together than either could be alone.
Then as young women, Darla and Jo enter into an agreement that will startle everyone who cares for them. After years of watching Darla’s heartbreaking failure to have a baby with her husband, Cal, Joanne agrees to give birth to the child that Darla cannot have on her own.
But in the early morning hours of a warm July morning, everything changes. Joanne, then four months pregnant, is driving a car that veers off the road near the home that Darla shares with Cal. In the days and months that follow, Darla must face for the first time in her memory, the possibility of life without Jo. As Darla tries to uncover the secrets that brought her friend out onto the highway in those dark morning hours, she discovers that she must also fight to keep the baby that was intended to be her child.
With the child’s fate hanging in the balance, Darla searches for clues to Jo’s strange behavior leading up to the crash. In the process, she discovers truths that hide in her own life: in her marriage, in her closest friendships, and in a past that has suddenly reemerged, full of unfolding secrets.
Tender and heartbreaking, hopeful and honest, A Blessed Event brings life’s everyday experiences into bright focus, contrasting beautifully the pain of suffering with the sublime joys of surviving—and truly living.
From the Hardcover edition.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
I WANTED A FAMILY. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
I WANTED A FAMILY. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Customer Reviews
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.co.uk.
5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
12 reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Starts with a crash.
4 Mar 2004
Format:Hardcover
Joanne Timbro and Darla Stevens had grown up together in a small town in Texas. In fact, their back yards touched each other. They spent all their time together and knew each other so well you would think they were sisters.
Darla grew up and married Cal. Joanne, always considered the bad girl, had been thrown out of her parents' house and lived alone with a small dog. But the two were still best friends, still like sisters. Eventually, Joanne agreed to carry a baby for Darla, who was infertile. No doctors were involved. Cal got Joanne pregnant the normal way. To Darla, all seemed right with the world. Then one day Joanne, four or five months pregnant, showed up at Darla's home, needing desperately to say something, but couldn't. She left, agitated. She returned in the middle of the night, in an unexpected way. Joanne had been returning to Darla's home and ended up crashing through the bedroom wall. Joanne was brain dead, but the unborn baby was still okay.
In the months that follow, Darla tries to figure out what events led Joanne up to that tragic moment. Secrets are uncovered about Joanne that Darla never dreamed existed and a custody battle is in full swing.
**** This book starts out with Joanne's car coming through the wall of Darla's home! Needless-to-say, that will capture your interest instantly. From then on the secrets keep coming and you will be turning the pages as quickly as possible to see what will happen next. The only time the novel slows down too much is during court scenes. If you are looking for high drama, here it is! ****
Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Unforgettable
26 May 2004
Format:Hardcover
What a debut novel! From the first page you are powerless against it. It starts with an explosive event, pulls back to reveal characters and the lines that connect them, and then, with each chapter, adds emotional flesh to their bones -- and considerable momentum to the plot -- building to a deeply emotional payoff that feels wholly earned. Page writes with luminous compassion and a finely tuned ear, drawing deeply defined (and deeply flawed) human beings. A beautiful story, beautifully written. Do not miss!!
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
tender and knowing
23 Mar 2004
Format:Hardcover
What a wonderful new writer we have in Jean Reynolds Page! Again and again, I'd find some new passage or exchange that touched me to my soul, and I'd stop and think: "she can't know what THAT'S like." But she does, inevitably. I was astonished by the confidence and sensitivity with which Page set her scenes.
I'm going to go back and read some favorite parts aloud -- the best test of a book, or so I find. "A Blessed Event" is not just a "good read," it is a work of art.
I'm going to go back and read some favorite parts aloud -- the best test of a book, or so I find. "A Blessed Event" is not just a "good read," it is a work of art.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
