Monday 30 January 2012

Review – The Two Week Wait by Sarah Rayner


I’m not usually a reader of fertility related fiction, but Sarah Rayner isn’t a usual author!


Sarah previously wrote the copy for the eggsharing.com website after a great deal of research in to the practical and emotional aspects of treatment.  At the same time her novels were starting to identify her as a superb author who is able to demonstrate great empathy for her characters.

Having gained familiarity for the hugely complex and often conflicting emotions that surround assisted conception, especially egg sharing, Sarah went on to use that in her latest novel, the title highlighting the often most difficult time during treatment  - the two week wait.

Several of the characters in 'The Two Week Wait' were first introduced in Sarah’s previous novel, ‘One Moment, One Morning’, which has now sold over 200,000 copies and has just been published in the US.  But you do not need to have read it before falling in to her latest book. I say ‘falling in to’ as opposed to reading as it’s one of those books that embraces you and takes you on a journey.

If your perceived successful outcome for IVF was a take home baby, then this book possibly doesn’t have a wholly happy ending. If your happy ending is one where trying to conceive is part of a journey to acceptance, to acknowledgement that the need to nurture isn’t always baby shaped, that we can’t always identify what we really want and what’s important to us until we really know it - then this book is a definite one to read.

Life has difficulties for most people and when you embark on assisted conception as a pathway to parenthood the internal conflicting emotions you feel can make everyday life feel exhausting; a good book is often a source of relaxation, this is one book you can pick up and read at a pace that suits you.  I have to confess I couldn’t put it down and don’t remember sleeping much until I’d finished.

A great read not just for people going through treatment, but their friends and family too.  It gives a real sense of how people make big life changing decisions, how difficult it can be sharing news, how some people can be incredibly naive or hurtful when they aren’t sure what to say or how to say it.

But it is also a great read as a novel with a really emotive storyline for anyone who wants to be taken on life changing journey, with characters brought to life who share themselves so generously with the reader.
Enjoy!

You can purchase The Two Week Wait now on Amazon through Infertility Books and support  Infertility Network UK here: http://astore.amazon.co.uk/infnetuk-21/detail/0330544098