Bed Rest [Hardcover]

Sarah Bilston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 25, 2006

In this humorous and touching debut, Sarah Bilston examines what happens to a first-time mother who becomes imprisoned in her flat due to prenatal complications. Q is a young English lawyer married to an American and living in New York. She's ticked off most of the boxes on her list of Things To Do Before I'm Thirty and her life so far has been relatively painless. But when her doctor tells her she must spend the last three months of her pregnancy lying in bed, Q is thrown into a tailspin - her social life must stop and the inertia that follows plunges her relationship with her friends, family and husband into chaos.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

By the time she's 28 years old, British-born Quinn "Q" Boothroyd has worked her way through much of "The Modern Woman's List of Things to Do Before Hitting Thirty": a successful career with a New York law firm, check; an American husband she loves, check; and a soon-to-be child whom she likes to think was conceived during passionate, drunken grappling on the kitchen table, check. But for the last three months of her pregnancy, she's put on bed rest, left waiting for visitors, food and, hardest of all, her busy husband. When heavy exposition and the introspection of a self-absorbed protagonist don't weigh down Bilston's debut, written as Q's diary, it does offer a humorous glimpse into a pregnant woman's thoughts. Through her time-out on the sofa, Q questions the checklist and comes to terms with her marriage and herself. She rethinks her uncomfortable relationship with her mother and sisters, and establishes unlikely friendships with her visitors, a co-worker having an affair with a married man, and an elderly Greek neighbor, who involves her in a legal dispute that may jeopardize Q's marriage. Bilston, who spent time on bed rest herself, creates an authentic voice for Q, but her protagonist's housebound existence makes for a sluggish plot. (May)
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Review

“Even if you’ve never been pregnant you’ll be as instantly hooked on this addictive novel as I was. ” (Plum Sykes, bestselling author of Bergdorf Blondes )

“Sarah Bilston reads like Sophie Kinsella’s big sister—a bit more serious, a little wiser, just as irresistable.” (Susan Elizabeth Phillips, author of Match Me If You Can )

“Prescribe yourself the same so that you can bask in the humor and warmth of this gorgeous novel.” (-- Elizabeth Noble, bestselling author of The Reading Group )

“[H]onest and irreverent ... I laughed out loud and I couldn’t put it down.” (--Marian Keyes, bestselling author of Angels )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Harper (April 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060889934
• ISBN-13: 978-0060889937
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,554,990 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Calling all moms, May 3, 2006

By 

Annie "bookwishes4" (United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Bed Rest (Hardcover)

Quinn, known as "Q" is a young up and coming lawyer in New York City working her way up the corporate ladder until life throws her a curve. At a regular doctor visit six months into her pregnancy Q learns that in order to save her babys life, she must get total bed rest until delivery time.

Written in journal entry form we spend three months at home with Q as she tries to reconnect with her work obsessed husband, mend relationships with her mother and sisters, help the neighbors fight a legal battle, and play confidante to a friend who is having an affair with a married man.

By the end of the story, Q has her baby but life will never be the same after spending 3 months on Bed Rest.

Sarah Bilston has put out a wonderful debut novel about motherhood, marriage, and bed rest and is currently working on another book titled Sleepless Nights. I sure hope it follows up with Q and Tom.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps it would have been more enjoyable were I NOT on bedrest, August 12, 2006

By 

Meredith Sue - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bed Rest (Hardcover)

This was quite predictable, and simple in plot. It was an easy read, and had some humorous moments.
Perhaps I am not at my most appreciative, since I am just halfway though a four month bedrest myself right now, and found some of the parts of the story ridiculous.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Humorous story., July 13, 2007

By 

Detra Fitch (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bed Rest (Paperback)

Quinn "Q" Boothroyd is a young British lawyer married to an American. She works at the law firm of Schuster and Marks, in New York City. Her fast-paced life comes to a screeching halt after her obstetrician appointment. Dr. Weinberg is very concerned because Q's body is not producing enough amniotic fluid for the baby to develop properly. Q's fluid level has to rise or the baby will be delivered almost three months too early. The answer is strict bed rest. Q may not walk or lift anything. She may shower once a day, sit up for dinner, and go to her OB appointments. That is it! Nothing else!

Tom, her husband, goes back to his own hectic work zone quickly. Q is bored within eight hours. She can see no way to spend three months in a reclined position without going insane. Q begins writing in a journal to kill time. But soon she needs more. She begins trying to live through others. As she gives legal advice to her neighbor, tries to feel happiness for Brianna's (a friend) love life, becomes closer to mother and sisters, and tries to reconnect with her husband, Q finds her outlook on life changing. The time Q spends in bed rest teaches her a lot about herself, life in general, and most importantly, about the baby growing within her.

*** This is a humorous tale told in a first-person view point. If you have ever been pregnant, whether you've had a career at the time or not, you will easily empathize. ***

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.