The Instant When Everything Is Perfect

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.

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!

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.