Talk Before Sleep by Elizabeth Berg

A painful, gripping story about two best friends, Ann and Ruth, and Ruth's ultimate death of cancer. While the outcome may be tragic, the telling is lyrical. The women met when they both were in their late 30s, and for the 4 or 5 years of their friendship, Ann has been the follower and pupil to Ruth's exhilarating and thought-provoking leadership and teaching. Ruth has forced Ann to examine her comfortable life with her husband and child by her example of freedom and independence. She seems to be everything Ann is afraid or unable to be-beautiful, artistic, appealing to both sexes, and self-confident. Her love life thrives and her times with Ann provide excitement and challenges. When Ruth is diagnosed with terminal cancer, Ann, once a nurse, becomes the mainstay of the small group of women who surround their friend, but feels little in common with them. Much of this brief novel focuses on the interplay among these characters as they all try, each in her own way, to do her best for Ruth.

To me this book was more about friendship than death. A quick read but a very moving one.