In the opening pages of Elizabeth Berg's novel Talk Before Sleep Ann, a middle-aged former nurse, muses on a scene from her childhood when she watched her mother hanging up sheets on the clothesline "insisting that they stay anchored in one place while they pulled and yanked to be free, their wet snapping sounds a protest." Ann's ability to reflect upon images and ponder her relationship with things and people is one of the qualities which make her such a good friend to Ruth.
Ruth is a larger-than-life woman who is vibrant, adventuresome, artistic, attractive, and dying of cancer at the age of 43. Although she has many other friends, she considers Ann a soul mate who shares her interests and whose loyalty is unshakable. Ann stands by Ruth as she suffers the ordeals of losing her breasts and one lung to the disease. She bears witness to her friend's affairs and her divorce from Eric, a self-absorbed lawyer who goes on to marry another woman.
Elizabeth Berg's very fine novel, Talk Before Sleep probes the rewards and challenges of friendship in a death watch setting which accentuates the characters' heightened emotions and suddenly shifting moods. Ruth comes across as one of those unforgettable whirlwinds — a woman whose appetite for life and varied experiences is voracious. Ann is her perfect match, a reflective and intense person whose monkish devotion to her friend enables her to abandon husband and daughter to look after Ruth. Talk Before Sleep ends on a high and holy note that accentuates the intimacy and love in this unusual and engagingly presented story about the friendship between two wome