Bed Rest: A Witty Novel for Fans of Sophie Kinsella About a Lawyer's Pregnancy Adventures

by Sarah Bilston

Quinn "Q" Boothroyd is a young British lawyer married to an American and living in New York City. She's checked off most of the boxes on her "Modern Woman's List of Things to Do Before Hitting 30," and her busy working life has been relatively painless. But when her doctor tells her she must spend the last three months of her pregnancy lying in bed, Q is thrown into a tailspin. Initially bored and frustrated, Q soon fills her days by trying to reconnect with her workaholic husband, provide legal advice for her sweet Greek neighbor, forge new emotional bonds with her mother and sisters, and figure out who will keep her stocked up in cookies and sandwiches.

Q experiences adventures on the couch she never would have encountered in the law firm and learns a lot about herself and what she wants out of life--and above all, about the little one growing inside her.

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Humor, Audiobook, New York, Contemporary, Romance

215 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2006

About the author

Sarah Bilston is associate professor of literature at Trinity College. She is the author of The Awkward Age in Women’s Popular Fiction, 1850-1900 and two novels, Bed Rest and Sleepless Nights.

Reviews

[Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Currently, I am thoroughly enjoying this book which I misjudged. Thinking it was another shallow yet enjoyable book in the genre of "chick lit" by another British author. I am thoroughly surprised that this novel, although comedic in tone, wrestles with some incredibly strong conflicts which I am enjoying thoroughly. Excited to see how it all ends. I love finding out what defenestrate is. To throw out the window. LOL

I am done. I liked it because unlike those novels which are romantic in tone, this novel is bounded in what happens after the honeymoon. I believe that is a story best covered over in the "Happily Ever After" of our childhood fairy tales. As we all know, Happily ever after doesn't always exist and here we find a heroine who struggles with what she is supposed to be and what she actually is. And who doesn't struggle with THAT from time to time? I have a good feeling and I don't care if it wasn't exactly grist for literary criticism. I still find it a good read.

[Plethora · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an average chick-lit type of read. It had some funny parts, perhaps the funniest thing is the mere fact that these soon new-to-be parents think they can place a pregnancy in these nice little check-off boxes and to run exactly as they planned. Both parents being very driven individuals working at law firms (different firms) and Q is not ready to be stopped in her tracks and put on bed rest.

In all fairness, I don't think anybody is really ready for such an event. I also couldn't imagine having to spend weeks on end only laying on your left side. That being said, for the safety of my unborn I certainly would.

Q talks us through her daily life of staying on her side, from staring out the window into the neighbors apartments to praying for visitors, even if they are from people she didn't particularly care for.

Great book for when you need to fill a challenge as it is a new quick read with a character that fits that hard to fill Q spot or a blue cover.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was pretty good. I was looking for Sophie Kinsella books on my Scribd app and they didn't have what I wanted, so they suggested Bed Rest. I am wanting to get into these types of book, so I decided to give it a try. I do not regret it! It had its flaws, and sometimes could be a bit dry, but it was entertaining. The description might seem boring. I mean, what could be so interesting about a pregnant woman who has to go on complete bed rest for three months? Well, the author did a good job making it a fun ride!

Three stars because of the rushed ending along with a few other flaws.

[༄ ℛary ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐2.7⭐
(recensione non ancora terminata)

🏥👩🏻‍⚕️🤰🏻🛋️💭📚🧑🏻‍💼💼🗂️🥪👵🏻🚪🎁🍪🍰
Un romanzo scorrevole e divertente, che fa riflettere sui matrimoni, i conflitti familiari e i legami madre-figlio!
💻🛏️👨‍👩‍👧‍👦🤘🏼🛫🇬🇧💂🛬🗽🚕🏢👠📃👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨🤱🏼

La storia viene narrata attraverso delle pagine di diario: quello di Quinn, la nostra protagonista.

Quinn, conosciuta anche come Q, è un avvocato (proprio come suo marito Tom) ed è incinta del suo primo figlio.
Durante una visita ginecologica, scopre di non avere abbastanza liquido amniotico per far crescere in modo sano il suo bambino e che quindi non potrà più muovere un muscolo per il resto della gravidanza.

Questa notizia scombussolerà la vita dei due neogenitori e porterà a galla diversi elementi scioccanti, tra cui: una relazione extraconiugale, documenti sospetti tra le scartoffie di Tom, il rapporto al dir poco tossico tra i genitori di Q, la vera identità del fidanzato di sua sorella e molto molto altro!

𓆞𓆝 𓆟 𓆞𓆝 𓆟 𓆞𓆝 𓆟 𓆞𓆝 𓆟

[Mom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Payed $5.00 at the bargain table, figuring it would be a good summer amusement. I found myself more involved and introspective than I had anticipated.
Ah family dynamics! Ah, the conflict of work and parenthood!
I smiled, I nearly cried, I snickered, I got hungry,
But I'm glad I didn't read this when I was pregnant!

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I felt bad for all the family drama Q had to deal with, but I really liked the ending.

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Got this at a garage sale with a box full of other books... was looking for a light read while waiting for my library book to come in and chose to read this one as the back cover said "laugh out loud funny & couldn't put it down". Totally DISAGREE with that. The main character "Q" is put on bed rest for 10 weeks and the entire time is negative and complains about everything. As for her family who lives abroad, she is negative about her father, mother, sister and her other sister's boyfriend. As for her husband, she is in a constant battle with him the entire book and talks negative about him as well. I'm still wondering where the "laugh out loud" humor was in the book.

[GoldGato · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, this was so marvellous to read. A novel about a career woman and her first pregnancy, it's quite hilarious once the protagonist has to step away from normal worklife and stay, mostly, on a couch due to medical complications.

There's a maternal neighbor, a mother who flies in from jolly old England, and then there's the husband, who is driven as crazy as the pregnant one. I was laughing throughout most of the book, and that's a very good sign.

Book Season = Year Round

[Ilse · Rating 3 out of 5]

pff op zich wel een leuk boek, maar niet echt mijn schrijfstijl
ik heb me ook regelmatig afgevraagd waarom het zo moeilijk is om te praten. oke je bent zwanger en oke, je hormonen gieren door je lijf maar dan nog heb je heel de tijd het gevoel dat het koppel naast elkaar leeft (en dat is dan ook eigenlijk de reden dat er een verhaal is)

[Katherine · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of those books you read in a day when there’s nothing good in the DVR queue. All the characters were terrible people. A few months from now I won’t remember a thing about this book.

[Mrs.Bee.17 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to enjoy this book but it had a few issues that prevented me from doing so:

- whiny/borderline bitchy protagonist who belittles, judges, or vilifies those around her with little to no inner reflection on her behaviors and motivations
- The “diary” framework. I’m wondering why the author chose to frame the story in this manner? It comes across as unbelievable (journaling detailed dialogue at 3:30, really?) and tiresome.
- In many instances, it was repetitive. “I’m stuck in my boring yellow living room, helpppppp.” Help me as a reader by providing an entertaining story. Despite being a short text, it dragged in many places and the characters and plot were not quite enough to drive it forward and make it interesting. Which is a shame because the premise sounded pretty good.

[Diana H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel is written in the form of a diary so most of the sections are short. I enjoyed the author's telling of what life on bed rest during pregnancy really looks like - it's not fun and games. It's a lot of work and more boredom. At the end, this mom delivered a healthy baby - and that's all that matters.

[Kristen Rhoda · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. I know it’s supposed to be about staying in bed because of a scary condition during pregnancy, but I hate most of the characters, the diary style didn’t work for me, and the plot wasn’t really moving fast enough so I just gave up. I’m sure Sarah Bilston is a great writer but this is not my cup of tea.

[Debbie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Easy read, not funny to me as I recall, but then again, only a few months (weeks?) after finishing it I honestly can't remember it at all, even after rifling through its pages. It went on the "free" shelf at the office, where no one else has picked it up.

[Bibliobabe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light chick lit, quick read, reminder to focus on what is important in life.

[Jonelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy, happy ending book — Audio good for walks and commutes.

[Um mar de fogueirinhas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Achei que seria sem graça porque não tenho nenhuma referência do tema (gestação de risco com repouso absoluto), mas curti super!

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy, predictable but good chick lit read.

[Erica Moberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Underhållning för stunden

[Maya · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Linnea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kul, även för den som inte upplevt en graviditet. Men inget djuplodande eller minnesvärt, direkt.

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was pretty good, but every once in awhile out of no where the "f" bomb would drop.

[Caitlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. I'm just giving up on this book. It's awful. For awhile I was dragging myself through it and was like, well, I should just read it and finish it, but you know what? Eff that. Life is too short to force myself to finish crap books, so into the DNF pile for you.

I wanted to read this because it was about pregnancy, and I want to have children eventually and the maternal clock is ticking so I thought maybe reading about someone being pregnant would sort of scratch that itch in the meantime, but this sure wasn't the right book for that. The main protagonist is just awful. She is a totally awful stuck up horrible person.

I'm assuming (HOPING) that eventually she will realize what an awful, awful person she is and come to realize that she needs to stop being such a bitch to people around her, but honestly, I can't deal with her until then.

She is some sort of high powered lawyer in New York that is put on bed rest for 3ish months because of some complication with her pregnancy. She starts to write a "journal" about it, although it's one of those stupid journal books that is completely unbelievable because no one (not even those with three months of free time on bed rest) has time to write out every single tiny conversation and detail (word for word, minute by minute) of their entire day, every day.

She does not even last one day (ONE. DAY). before she is whining about how hard her life is being stuck on the couch. I mean seriously? I can understand it maybe wearing on you after a couple weeks (MAYBE), but the fact that she is overcome with boredom almost instantaneously was just ridiculous. She is needy and selfish and awful towards her husband and her friend that comes to visit her. Her husband obviously tried very hard to fix food for her, but is also extraordinarily busy with his job supporting them both while she is off work, and she has no appreciation for anything he does. Her one friend from work comes by to bring food even though I got the impression they weren't super good friends at work (although I don't really remember at this point :p) and then subsequently comes by pretty much every day with food and Q (the main character chick) is basically just pissed at her for everything - pissed that she brought the wrong food, pissed if she doesn't bring food, pissed if she brings food but has the gall to stay and chat about her personal problems, etc.

It's just ridiculous. So I give up! Onwards and upwards to better things.

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel a bit bad giving this book only one star. I didn't need to buy it in the first place, other than the fact that there were booksellers set up in the hospital cafeteria on a stressful day in a previous placement, and they were selling 3-for-£5. I bought six. No justification. I knew, when I read all the fannying about, explaining the first-person narrative by framing it as a diary (totally fucking pointless and wasn't even used consistently), that it was going to bug the tits off me. But did I stop reading? No I did not.

Nor is it the book's fault that my circadian rhythms are all to cock with doing my first ever week of night shift and I've been so tired that I would have killed for three months' bed rest, quite frankly. Nor could Bilson have predicted that my pride and joy, my iPod Classic, filled to the brim with over 20,000 songs, would suddenly and mysteriously wipe itself of everything I've ever listened to, on the day I finish the book.

But, let's face it, it didn't do itself any favours. Q was an idiot. Which six-month pregnant woman (with an Oxford education and a supposedly high-powered job) has never heard of amniotic fluid? She's also (despite her biological ignorance) vaguely disdainful of the nursing profession, which, I can tell you, did not go down at all well with this particular health professional-to-be (did I mention I was on nights this week...?).

But the final straw? For a woman who, apparently, "loves" Jane Austen, "wishes" she had studied literature instead of law, and quotes Sylvia Plath, she never opens a fucking book in her whole incarceration. She watches Ricki Lake, but doesn't get round to reading a novel. Aaargh, I've just made myself angry writing about it. So, no, I don't feel bad about awarding one star. I do feel bad about the swearing though. Sorry. I must stop that.

[Devon · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is more to Sara Bilston's 'BED REST' than meets the eye. On the surface it is a witty tale of a woman ordered to be on bed rest for the remaining 15 weeks of her pregnancy. Quinn, or Q as she is affectionately called, decides to write a diary about her weeks on bed rest for her child to read one day but as bed rest starts to take it's toll, Q soon realizes that her life may not be the perfect life within which to raise a child.

Q and husband Tom seem to have it all. They are both high powered corporate attorneys with a small but great NY apartment who are both crazy about each other...that is when they actually get to see each other. After a rare passion filled evening, Q finds herself pregnant and thrilled but when she finds out that her amniotic fluid is low and she must be on bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy she is obviously scared to death. However, during her time on bed rest (which is no easy feat for someone used to the hustle-and-bustle of life as New York City attorney) Q soon realizes a few things about her life. Her job is not all that it is cracked up to be, her family may be a bit more misunderstood than she imagined and most earth shatteringly that her marriage may not be as solid as she's once imagined. Workaholic Tom doesn't seem to have any time for her so what is going to happen when the baby arrives?

`BED REST' does not have the usual chick-lit clichés such as the doting husband the quirky friend or Q trying to scheme her way out of the bed every time you turn around. This is an honest take on life, the effects of a new baby on a marriage and the real life scares of a high risk pregnancy. This novel all though dragging at times was overall a fun read and certainly not predictable! 31/2 stars!

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quinn Boothroyd, expat Brit married to American lawyer Tom and currently pregnant with their first child, discovers a major glitch in the pregnancy (besides the fact that her and Tom's high-stress life is going to be impossible once the baby arrives): low amniotic fluid. If the baby is to survive, Q has to stay on her left side for the next thirteen weeks.

As a woman once diagnosed with placenta previa during her first pregnancy (I recall the doctor talking about blood "literally pouring off the table" if things went wrong) and also sentenced to bed rest, I empathized with Q's bed-rest trials: the very phrase, "bed rest" begins to seem Orwellian as your mental health goes south, your intense boredom creates massive stress, and your social life becomes non-existent. Bilston manages to make all this quite amusing, while guiding Q through resolution of her less-than-sisterly feelings for her sisters, her deteriorating relationship with Tom, and the legal case of the downstairs tenants which Q takes on to while away her hours. I was a bit surprised by how dark things got before the dawn, but I did enjoy it - the problem of Brianna and her married lover was actually awfully funny. How about a sequel, Sarah Bilston? This is the right kind of book for a sequel.

[Jamee Zielke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bed Rest turned out to be a much more mature story than I expected. It was a quick read that kept my interest, but I had expected a shopaholic type character with silly high jinks.


The main character, Q, is British, married to an American, and living in New York. That's obviously why the blurbs on the dust cover are comparing the book to the shopaholic books.


The similarities end there, however. Q is a grown up grappling with major issues of a workaholic husband, down right cruel sister, boredom of bedrest, and the terror of complications with the baby. The book manages to stay relatively breezy, nonetheless, and ultimately avoids truly facing the issues of Q's marriage (which is the heart of the plot, largely secondary to her being on bed rest or the health of the baby).


Her relationship with one sister is bizarrely adversarial. I can't say really, as an only child, how typical it is, but I'd move far far far away from her too.


Overall, a good addition to the chick lit genre. Dances around some major life stresses, keeping the book from being much more than brain candy.

[Dina F · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wish I could give this book no stars at all. I had a pretty good sense that I would not finish the book, right from the start, but I try to go at least 50 pages in before I set a novel aside. I don't think I made it past 30 (sorry, I'm reading on a Kindle and don't know what page I was on when I finally hit the wall). The author has a sophomoric, smug voice, terribly unlikeable and mean. What finally did it for me was when Q (the protagonist) describes a scene taking place in the building across the way from hers (basically, she's peeping into other people's apartments). She describes her neighbors as elderly and frail and tells us how she watched an elderly man try and change a lightbulb. He teetered on his step-stool, lost hold of the lightbulb which smashed to the ground and had to start all over. Q's assessment of the situation was that it was highly entertaining? Seriously? Watching an old person come near to doing himself harm is entertaining? Both Ms Bilston and her editor need to do a self-check.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good audio book and my first by Sarah Bilston. It had its funny moments as Quinn "Q" Boothroyd, a workaholic lawyer who recently made the move from London to New york with her American-born husband, Tom, was succumbed to bed rest for the last three months of her pregnancy after doctors find her amniotic fluids to be too low. At first, she figures it will be a breeze, after all, Q has never been one who has a hard time keeping herself busy or entertained. However, after a mere seven or eight days, she's sure she going to go out of her mind with boredom. Written as a series of diary entries by time and date, listen to the adventures Q makes of her Bed Rest full of emotional bonding with her unborn, repairning and reignitying the intimacy within her marriage, helping out friends with their legal queries and of course, much hilarity. Excllent narration by new-to-me reader, Elizabeth Sastre, I loook forward to Bilston's sequel, Sleepless Nights.

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Q is pregnant but there are complications so she has to spend the final 3 months of her pregnancy in bed. She's English and married to an American so all of her family are in the UK. I enjoyed the book which is written in the form of a diary - Q is quite a funny character, but I felt it was a kind of bittersweet kind of humour. She literally is not allowed to move at all and is reliant on other people to do most things for her and meets a collection of characters who come to entertain her. She has the usual dysfunctional eccentric family, which are a teeny bit predictable but that's not a necessarily bad thing. I found the character of her husband quite hideous! More concerned with his career it seems than his wife and child, he irritated me a lot!! All in all a good and easy read. I enjoyed it.