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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780345462169
ISBN number: 0345462165
Label: Ballantine Books
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 368
Printing Date: January 25, 2005
Publishing house: Ballantine Books
Release Date: January 25, 2005
Sale Popularity Level: 385452
Studio: Ballantine Books
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
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 very 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.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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I certainly was intrigued by the premise of a best friend carrying her friends baby. Then after crashing into their house and becoming comatose, there are secrets that get revealed. I thought the study of the friendship between Darla and Joanne was extremly thorough and well developed. But, I didn't feel that was the case with Darla's supposedly desperate feelings about becoming a mother. Those feelings are only touched on briefly, are not prevalent throughout the book, and therefore, her approval of the unorthadox conception didn't completely ring true for me. However, I think that this book showed the grief felt by Darla losing her best friend, better than almost any book I've ever read on the subject. The author did not tie that grief up in a neat bow, but showed how the crushing loss of someone you love is something that is struggled with for a very long time.
Rated by buyers -
Darla and Cal Stevens have given up on conceiving a child. When her best friend Joanne agrees to be a surrogate, Darla gives the okay to do it the old fashioned way. Five months later, a teary eyed Joanne flees the Stevens household, only to come crashing through the bedroom a few hours later, leaving her brain dead, but able to carry the child.
Joanne's accident unearths many lies and long-buried secrets, and results in a grueling custody battle between Darla and Cal and Joanne's estranged parents. With Cal acting distant and unsure if they should pursue keeping the child, Darla is forced to turn to an old mutual friend of her and Joanne who is now a priest for answers. But is she ready to uncover the truth?
Page tells a compelling story with a moral center that will keep readers debating until the end, despite a pretty selfish protagonist who'll do anything to be a mother.
Rated by buyers 
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Bravo! This story grabs your attention in the very first paragraph and there is no putting it down once you get started. The author has intermingled just enough drama, romance, tragedy and curiosity to keep your pages turning while your eyes burn and beg for sleep!
Rated by buyers -
Story of Darla and Jo, best friend since childhood. Story opens with Jo crashing in the middle of the night into Darla's house. While Jo is kep alive by machines in the hospital because she is pregnant, we go through Jo and Darla's friendships and learn what brought them to this tragic event. Darla got Jo to get pregnant by Darla's husband, as Darla can't have children. This has led to trouble in Darla's marriage, and we follow her as she comes to terms with losing her best friend, making discoveries about who Jo really was, the relationship between the two of them and their families. While some of the writing is sometimes a bit cliche, Page does a good job with this story of redemption, forgiveness, loss and relationships. Recommended.
Rated by buyers -
"A Blessed Event" is that special kind of book where the writing is as enjoyable and involving as the story itself. The novel is, at its heart, the story of the friendship of two women and what happens when circumstances bring them closer together and tragedy threatens to tear them apart. As a man, I felt that I could understand, better than with any book I've read, what a friendship - a close friendship - between two women is like. The ending was perfect, but in a way, I wish the book hadn't ended. This would be a great book for book clubs, because it's the kind of book you want to share. It's hard to discuss such a wonderful book, though, with friends who haven't yet read it. So I've been buying copies for friends and relatives.
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