BED REST

Author: Sarah Bilston ISBN: 0060889934 5/2006 CHICK LIT Publisher: HARPER COLLINS

In a charming and witty novel in the tradition of Allison Pearson and Sophie Kinsella, Sarah Bilston tells the story of a busy career woman who finds her pregnancy a breeze -- until she's ordered off her feet for complete and total bed rest. Quinn "Q" Boothroyd is a young British lawyer married to an American and living in New York City. She's checked off most of the boxes on her "Modern Woman's List of Things to Do Before Hitting 30," and her busy working life 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. Initially bored and frustrated, Q soon fills her days by trying to reconnect with her workaholic husband, provide legal advice for her sweet Greek neighbor, forge new emotional bonds with her mother and sisters, and figure out who will keep her stocked up in cookies and sandwiches. Q experiences adventures on the couch she never would have encountered in the law firm and learns a lot about herself and what she wants out of life -- above all, about the little one growing inside her.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

"Q" Boothroyd is the central character of Bilston's first novel. She's a pregnant, hard-working lawyer who is about to have her feet pulled out from beneath her. The pregnancy is in danger, and unless she rests on her left side for 23 ½ hours a day, her son could die.

Extremely bored, she initially fills her days with eating sweets, watching TV and talking to the occasional visitor. She also writes in a diary, which is the text we are reading. Slowing down exposes her life style as something of a sham—she's a homebody in a way she never recognized, and her marriage isn't the steady rock she thought. She also has to learn to appreciate different kinds of people—finding out who your real friends are is an important lesson to learn. Her hardships force her out of the self-absorbed shell she's been in, and she learns many truths.

This book will resonate with women who know that nothing is ever quite so important again when a child comes into the picture. Relationships and attitudes change, and that can happen even before the actual birth. Bilston shows us that there are no guarantees in timeframe once a pregnancy comes on scene.

BED REST is literate and amusing, and will be enjoyed by those searching for the next generation of chick lit novels. This is what might happen after that hot, intense courtship.

Heather Hiestand