Kindle Edition Amazon Surviving Emily Amazon Website Category:  Women Publisher: Dog Ear Publishing ISBN-10:  1457505622 Type: Fiction Pages: 232 Copyright: Sept 1, 2011 ISBN-13: 9781457505621 Full of heartbreak and loss but ultimately hope, Surviving Emily is a compelling story that explores the meaning of everlasting friendship & the healing power of love.  When Abigail went to wake her best friend Emily, she had no concept of the nightmarish horror she was about to encounter; unbeknownst to Abigail, Emily suffered from epilepsy, and she was the victim of Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy.  Emily’s death left a void in Abigail’s life, but Abigail was not the only one affected by the loss.   Emily’s longtime boyfriend, Stephen, was shattered by the loss of the girl he planned to marry.  In the years that pass, the two survivors find different ways to cope with their friend’s death.  Stephen tries to drown his sorrows in booze, drugs, and meaningless encounters with faceless women; eventually, he pulls his life together, but he finds himself unable to commit to love again.  Abigail buries her sadness so deep that even her husband doesn’t fully understand her loss; Abigail herself doesn’t realize how badly she was hurt by the events of her past until she encounters a client with epilepsy through her work in the Department of Children and Families.  Newly pregnant and struggling to deal with her epileptic client, Abigail crosses paths with Stephen once more.  Stephen is in a foundering relationship with a caring and supportive nurse, but he finds himself unable to commit to the level that his girlfriend, Carolina, needs and deserves. Through a series of amazing events Stephen and Abigail manage to find peace with the events of that tragic day so long ago as well as the fortitude to continue on the paths that their lives had laid before them.  Full of heartbreak and loss but ultimately hope, Surviving Emily is a compelling story that explores the meaning of everlasting friendship and the healing power of love.  Excerpt IT WAS THE year 1990, the morning of November 11th. Abigail woke up to the sound of her alarm clock; she and Emily were scheduled to work early. But little did she know as she tossed back her covers and stepped outside her bedroom that morning what was waiting for her in the room across the hall. In the few steps she took, the dreams of her youth were destroyed, a friendship was shattered, and the life she knew took a whole new course. With her heart pounding viciously in her chest, Abigail rushed down the stairs. She ran as fast as she could to the farthest end of the house to her mother’s bedroom. Her mother was already opening her door. At the sight of her, Abigail fell to her knees. A sudden ache for a breath and a tightening in her chest left her too weak to speak. Her mother dug her fingers into Abigail’s arms as if attempting to lift her up. Abigail felt her mother’s fingers bruising her skin. “What is it?” her mother shouted, nearly breaking into tears. “Abby, what’s wrong?” Worried Abigail had been gravely hurt; she pulled her daughter’s clenched hands apart. “It’s not me,” Abigail cried out. “It’s Emily!” She looked at her mother helplessly, unable to find the words to explain. It was enough to propel her mother down the hall and into the kitchen, where she grabbed the phone from the wall. A second later she was back in the hallway, pushing the portable phone into Abigail’s hand. A distant voice asked, “What is your emergency, please?” but Abigail couldn’t answer right away. She was too busy listening to her mother run up the stairs, hearing her bare feet pound on each wooden step, waiting for her inevitable scream. “It’s my friend. My friend Emily is dead.” * * * The house became filled with the sounds of the front door opening and closing and footsteps pounding up and down the hardwood stairs. From her perch in the bay window, Abigail saw a coroner pull into the driveway and watched a policeman on the front stoop pull on rubber gloves. A man carrying a camera brushed past her on his way through the living room. And as the static noise from the policemen’s radios pulsed inside her head, she began to wonder if any of what she was seeing was real. Other than the occasional policeman stopping to question her, she felt as if she was trespassing on the stage of a theatrical production that wasn’t meant for her to see. She felt like she was outside herself, watching the tragedy unfold. More frighteningly, she knew that at any moment Emily’s father would come. He would waver through her door, the very same one the paramedics had torn through, and he’d want to see his daughter. Abigail heard the whispers of the policemen from where she sat by the window. Not only had they found Emily’s father, but they’d also heard about Stephen, Emily’s long-time boyfriend, who’d also been at her house the night before. Soon he’d come as well. She thought about how she’d face them, the two men who loved Emily most. How she would sit and watch their hearts shatter to pieces all over her living room floor as they were told. She couldn’t fathom such a moment and was terrified every time the front door opened. A while later, still trying to process all that had happened, Abigail slipped away from the chaos and tiptoed back up the stairs. She’d been instructed not to go upstairs, but the desire to see Emily was too strong. She saw no harm; after all, it was her house. But as she approached the top step, she was confronted with another shock. Two men wearing rubber gloves rummaged through her bathroom. One sifted through her personal items while the other one examined her trash. She couldn’t imagine what they looked for but was too appalled to ask. It was an image she would not soon forget. With her mouth gaping in disbelief, she turned towards Emily’s bedroom. Across the room another man knelt by the window. The blinds were torn down, and the morning sun was trickling in all around him, leaving small squares of light across the hardwood floor. Outside the window, red and orange leaves swirled in a cool November breeze as their long twisted branches cast distorted shadows across the eaves. Beneath the shadows, Emily’s lifeless, sheet-covered body lay on the bed, barely missing the path of the sun’s warm glow. The man was busy dusting the blinds for fingerprints; she recognized this from the legal drama series she sometimes watched on television. He didn’t seem to notice her standing there, nor did he seem to hear her. Abigail gasped as she felt like a thousand bee stings hit her, all at once. Emily had died, and not even the police understood why.

Romance, Loss, Hope,
This book provides it all as a fictional love story and more. It makes one consider why the condition of Epilepsy is often treated like it is something shameful such as leprosy once was in biblical times, socially unacceptable and must be kept secret. This story illustrates the sad consequences that can occur when it is hidden due to fear of others disapproval. Book is also about confronting one's past, forgiveness and hope. An excellent read, with a plot that draws you in and keeps you there. This is one of those books I was still reading well past bedtime.

A Heartwarming Story, Impossible to Put Down
Surviving Emily by Laurie Bellesheim, is more than a heartwarming story--it is an event. I cried with the characters, feared along with them, applauded their milestones, identified with their setbacks, and learned from the book.

Backstory: Emily, Abigail, and Stephen were close friends throughout high school, even after Emily became engaged to Stephen. On November 11 of their senior year--a dozen years prior to the story's present--Emily died of Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP). At the time of Emily's death, she was staying at the home of Abigail. Abigail found Emily's body.

SURVIVING EMILY begins in flashback with the scene of Abigail finding Emily's body and realizing that her friend is dead. It is a horrific moment, masterfully told, and from the first page and moving forward, the reader is immediately inside the book.

We meet an older Stephen and Abigail twelve years after Emily's death. The long-term effects of their grief have kept them from finding love again. Scenes shift from past to present and from Abigail's life to Stephen's as they cope with their loss, or not, remember the shock, stumble, go their separate ways, or not, stuff or try to medicate away their emotions, seek help, and attempt to move on.

There is a subplot, involving Nancy and her child, Marie. Their story functions as catalyst forcing Abigail to examine her past. The dialogue between Nancy and Abigail is wonderful, as are the scenes with Abigail and her pregnant co-worker. They serve to flesh out the main character.

Laurie Bellesheim weaves the subplot into the main story arc, and an `ah-hah moment' occurs when Abigail--recently married, pregnant, and working at the Department of Children and Families--realizes that she is the one who needs saving. Tension builds. Characters hang between life and death. Incredibly the lives of all characters intertwine in a believable way and have their part to play in the final, nail-biting scenes.

If I could wish for anything, I'd want a closer look at Carolina's parents. I didn't quite believe these characters, especially in one of the scenes between the father and Stephen, but that's a minor point.

SURVIVING EMILY is a heartwarming, sad, and realistic tale of two people, the paths their lives take after experiencing the sudden death of their friend, Emily. Its theme is survival and growth after catastrophic loss. I read it in one afternoon and predict you won't be able to put it down, either.

I'd recommend SURVIVING EMILY to any reader who loves a page-turning story and who keeps a box of tissues handy. I await Laurie Bellesheim's next novel.


Something for everyone! A great read!
I read this book within a 36 hour time span. I read fast, and once I'm "into" a story I can't put it down. I definitely lost sleep while reading this one. Not only is it well-written, but it's got such a wide-expanse of subject matter - there is something in here for everyone. It's about the sudden loss of a young women, but there is so much more. Relationships, addiction, parenting, and friendship are among the many themes that are interwoven and explored. I expected it to be a "sad story" but was surprised at the different places that touched me for unexpected reasons. It's very engaging, educational, entertaining, suspenseful, introspective, eye-opening, and more. It's a great story that will touch your heart in many ways.