A Whisper to a Scream, by Karen Wojcik Berner

Sarah is a stay at home mother to two young children, dealing with a somewhat absentee husband.  Annie is a career woman, longing for motherhood but struggling with infertility.  Both seem to long for what the other has, without even realizing it.  The two women cross paths at a local book club, and we get to see the journey each woman goes on over the course of several months.  Neither is fully prepared for where she will end up.

Quite an intriguing little book this is.  It has been on my to read list for a month, and I read it basically in one day.  It was hard to stray from it once I started, because I wanted to see what each woman was going to encounter next.  I loved the two main characters of Sarah and Annie.  I felt a little bit like a peeping tom, because we see these women in their most raw, real moments in life.  They talk like real women.  Their struggles are ones we relate to as women.

Sarah's story is one I see echoed in the lives of so many mothers that I know.  When reading her portions of the story, I could literally feel her frustration and resentment leaping from the page.  And with Annie, well, Annie's story is sort of my biggest fear in life, so it most definitely resounded.

What I like most about this book is that, while it lacks a conventional "happy ending" revolving around perfect partners and storybook romances, each woman finds her own version of happiness and purpose.  I believe that is a lesson so many women need to learn these days.

A bit of a warning, when I first saw the title of the book, I expected an action packed mystery thriller, which it is most certainly not.  But that is not to say the book is slow or lacks anything.  If anything, when I finished the book, I was impressed with how real the storyline was.  Nothing overly dramatic.  Just the lives of two women, so similar to women we all know.  I think that is ultimately why I liked the book so well.  It was less like reading a book, and more like talking to two old college friends.

A review copy of this book was provided by the author.