The Instant When Everything is Perfect [Paperback]

Jessica Barksdale Inclan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 7, 2006

Mia thought she had everything-a thriving career, a wonderful husband, and two beautiful sons. But illness shakes her out of her comfort zone when her mother is diagnosed with breast cancer. At her mother's bedside, she meets someone whose presence seems to fill a void in her, a void she wasn't even aware existed.

Robert is happily convinced he's going to spend his life alone until he meets Mia, who makes him question everything. As a surgeon, he's helped many women put their lives back together. And despite his compelling feelings about Mia, he doesn't want to make hers fall apart.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jessica Barksdale Inclán teaches writing, mythology, and women's literature at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: NAL Trade (February 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451217535
• ISBN-13: 978-0451217530
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,525,847 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jessica Barksdale Inclan's debut novel Her Daughter's Eyes, published in 2001, was the premier novel published under New American Library's new imprint Accent. Her Daughter's Eyes was a final nominee for the YALSA Award for the best books of 2001 and best paperbacks for 2001 and has been published in Dutch and Spanish. Her next novel The Matter of Grace was published in May 2002 and was re-released in a mass market version in May 2004. Her third, When You Go Away, came out April 1, 2003. Her fourth, One Small Thing, was published April 2004, and has been published in Dutch and Spanish. Her fifth, Walking With Her Daughter, was published in April 2005. The Instant When Everything is Perfect was published in February 2006. In June 2006, she published the first in a trilogy from Kensington Books. When You Believe was followed by Reason to Believe and Believe in Me. Being with Him, Intimate Beings, and The Beautiful Being (October 2009) are the novels in her second trilogy. She is a 2002 recipient of the CAC Artist's Fellowship in Literature. Incl'n teaches composition, creative writing, mythology, and women's literature at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, California, and on-line creative writing courses for UCLA extension. She has studied with Sharon Olds, Anne Lamott, Kate Braverman, Grace Paley, Marjorie Sandor, and Cristina Garcia. Her short stories and poems have appeared in Rockhurst Review, Hotwired, The Salt Hill Journal, Free Lunch, The West Wind Review, The Prairie Star, Gargoyle and many other journals and newspapers. Her short story Open Eyes was given first prize by Sandra Cisneros for El Andar magazine's 2000 writing contest. She co-edited a women's literature/studies textbook Diverse Voices of Women (Mayfield Publishing, 1995). Ms. Inclan has degrees in sociology and English literature from CSU Stanislaus and a Master's degree in English literature from SFSU. Ms. Inclan lives in Oakland, California and is currently at work on her next novel. Find her Kindle books on Amazon, starting with The Wolf at the Window.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An (Almost) Perfectly Good Book, May 30, 2007

By 

Richard Stoehr "Idle Rich" (Bremerton, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Instant When Everything is Perfect (Paperback)

What does one call a book like this? Is it a contemporary romance? It's a story of love, to be sure, but doesn't follow the rules of the romance genre. Is it women's fiction? Perhaps, but there's plenty of meat here for men to enjoy as well, if they care to look. Is it literature? The language isn't rich enough, the themes too transparent.

But in the end, who really cares what you want to call it? All that really matters is this: Jessica Barksdale Inclan's 'The Instant When Everything is Perfect' is a good book, the sort of deceptively simple story that will keep you thinking about it and its characters well after you've turned the last page and closed the book.

There's nothing really astounding about the story by itself. Inclan's tale of a failing marriage, the tragedy of cancer, and new love is one that has been told before, both in the pages of other books and in the days and years of lives lived. What made this book stand out for me as I read it, what kept me coming back to it again and again were the characters. Inclan's ability to create full-bodied, flawed, vibrant, human characters made this a story worth reading, even through the parts that were predictable or too easy.

My reaction to the book was surprising at times, and I think it had everything to do with the strength the characters. At one point I was banging my hand on the arm of my chair in frustration at the inaction of one character, at another I found myself thinking something just before another character said almost exactly what I had been thinking. In these brief pages, somehow I came to know the people within them: Mia, mother of two older boys, wife in a marriage that has never satisfied her. Robert, lonely and frightened, but kind and giving as well. Sally, Mia's mother, victim of breast cancer and rediscovering what her life means to her. Not only did I come to know these people, I came to care about them. Their story mattered to me, and when it ended I was a little sad. It ended where it needed to end, but I found myself wanting to know what came next too.

There are moments in life that seem flawless. Taken and recognized for what they are when they happen, they are wondrous and rare and beautiful, and they can sustain us through much. Jessica Barksdale Inclan sees those moments through the eyes of her characters, and she shares that vision with us in this book. For these moments alone, it is a story well worth reading.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Look closer... not everything looks like what you think it is., February 14, 2006

By 

Jennifer K. Gibbons (Pleasant Hill, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Instant When Everything is Perfect (Paperback)

On the outside, Mia Alden looks like the American Dream come true. She has a long term marriage, two sons, and a lovely house in the town of Monte Veda, California (Barksdale-Inclan's surburban town that has been featured in her other books) She has a flourishing career as a college professor, and also a career as a novelist.

But something is missing-there is no passion with Mia and her husband. It is something Mia lives with, until her mother is diagnosed with breast cancer. They visit a surgeon. Robert is kind, interested in Mia. She is intrested in him. What happens next will change everything in their lives.

Jessica Barksdale has created characters that make decisions out of love and rediscovery of themselves. A definite treat.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book was great!, June 19, 2006

By 

Gio "Misshoneygold" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Instant When Everything is Perfect (Paperback)

I truly recommend this book! It was great. It illustrates how people's lives are not as perfect as they seem. Mia, the main character of this book, is a professor at a Univeristy, who is married, and has kids. Her life tends to completely change when her mother is diagnosed with cancer. This is a must read book!