goodreads | While My Sister Sleeps - Barbara Delinsky (Reply)

Title: While My Sister Sleeps
Author: Barbara Delinsky
Genre: Chick-lit
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: 318
Date read: October, 2009

Molly and Robin Snow are sisters in the prime of their lives. So when Molly learns that Robin - an Olympic athlete and the favorite child - has suffered a massive heart attack, the news couldn't be more shocking. At the hospital, the Snow family receives a grim prognosis: Robin may never regain consciousness.

Feelings of guilt and jealousy flare up as Robin's family struggles to cope and their relationships are put to the ultimate test. It's up to Molly to make the tough decisions, and she soon makes discoveries that destroy some of her most cherished beliefs about the sister she thought she knew.

What I enjoy most about Barbara Delinsky's writing is that though she writes chick-lit, it's not fluff, and she actually dares take up very serious subjects.

I don't know if it's standard for her work, or just a coincidence that the two books I've read by her have both been coping with a loved one in a coma (this one and "Coast Road"), but they've handled it in very different ways, so I didn't feel like I was just reading the same book all over again. The characters were well fleshed out, and you got to appreciate - or at least sympathise with all of them. The story was very poignant - I had a hard time putting it down and it made me cry more than once.

I think I may have found a new author to add to my favourites.