Title: A Blessed Event
Author: Jean Reynolds Page
Publication Date: 2004
Number of Pages: 352
Genre: Women’s Lives
Geographical Setting: Smalltown Texas
Time Period: 1974-1977, 1983, 1988 (Epilogue)
Series: N/A
Plot Summary: Childhood friends Joanne (Jo) Timbro and Darla Stevens are challenged by Darla, and her husband Cal’s, fertility problems. Together, the two women decide that Cal will impregnate Jo the old-fashioned way, and then Cal and Darla will raise the child. Everything seems to be working as planned, until the night Joanne’s car veers off the road and into Darla and Cal’s bedroom wall. Jo, severely injured, is brain dead. Five months pregnant, she lays in the hospital bed in a coma. Distraught and afraid for the life of her child, Darla finds herself in a court battle, with consequences she never imagined coming to light. Darla’s best friend from high school, Sean, is a Catholic priest, and the one person Darla knows she can depend on. Relationships are not always what they seem to be during times of crisis, and Darla must make heart-wrenching decisions about her best friend, her marriage, and the future of her baby. The date-stenciled chapter flashbacks offer readers insight into Joanne and Darla’s friendship during high school, and the secrets they shared, and a few they kept from one another. A Reader’s Guide (a conversation with the author) and Reading Group Questions are also offered in the back of the book.
Subject Headings: Best friends, Women and friendship, Marriage, Husband and wife, Infertility, Childlessness, Motherhood, Surrogacy, Extramarital relations, Interpersonal triangles, Traffic accidents, Brain injuries, Coma patients, Child custody, Family secrets, Family relationships, Mothers and daughters, Ethics, Law, Family Planning, Suicide, Secrets, Custody, Infidelity, Love, Father and daughter, Coming of Age, Moral issues
Appeal: Hopeful, Sympathetic, Melodramatic, Obsession, Suspense, Heartache, Intimate, Powerful, Mysterious, Riveting, Compelling, Heartbreaking, Family oriented
Three terms that best describe this book: Intriguing, Sympathetic, Psychologically Suspenseful
Relevant Fiction Works and Authors:
Origin of Haloes (2005) by Den Hartog – Pregnant, sixteen-year-old gymnast Kay Clancy marries her high-school sweetheart, Joe LeBlanc, although he is not the father of her child, an action that has profound repercussions years later when Joe mysteriously vanishes. An excellent read-alike that involves family, secrets, and repercussions.
In Another Man’s Bed (2007) by Francis Ray — Justine is forced to make a difficult choice between her adulterous husband, left comatose following a devastating car accident, his supportive mother, and the old flame who has just walked back into her life. An awesome tie-in to A Blessed Event, with a twist.
Family Secrets (2007) by Judith Henry Wall – Two bombshells fall on Vanessa, Ellie and Georgiana the night of their mother’s 60th birthday: widowed mom Penelope is moving to France with a man they’ve never met, and they learn their paternal grandmother did not die in childbirth as they’d been told all their lives. Families, like friends, often have secrets that change everyone involved, much like the lives of the characters in A Blessed Event.
Relevant Non-fiction Works and Authors:
Surrogacy Was the Way (2006) by Zara Griswold — Twenty Intended Mothers Tell Their Stories documents the true stories of twenty women who had children via surrogacy. Surrogacy is a complete possibility in today’s day and age, but anyone considering this route to parenthood should know the pros and cons. The women featured go to surrogacy for a variety of reasons, ranging from Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome (MRKH) to cancer to unexplained infertility and everything in between. An excellent tie-in to A Blessed Event and the real life experiences of mothers and surrogate relationships.
Management of Post-mortem Pregnancy: Legal And Philosophical Aspects (2006) by Daniel Sperling — Recent advances in medical technology have provided healthcare staff with the possibility of maintaining the life of a brain-dead pregnant woman on life-support in order to achieve successful delivery of the fetus. Covers the topics found in A Blessed Event: the moral, legal, psychological, religious, spiritual and physical aspects of the question on the interests of dead people, as well as the jurisprudential question of the fetus’ interests.
The Fabric of Friendship: Celebrating the Joys, Mending the Tears in Women’s Relationships (2006) by Joy Carol – Explores the emotional hurdles that women face in their relationships. The Fabric of Friendship reveals a simple truth: friendship is never simple. This work of fiction connects and enlightens readers as they reflect on the friendship between Darla and Jo in A Blessed Event.
Name: Maurine
Tags: compelling, Family oriented, Heartache, heartbreaking, hopeful, intimate, melodramatic, mysterious, Obsession, powerful, Riveting, Suspense, sympathetic
