The story is happening a million times a day to everyone. Everyone could be Kirsten, Janett, Mary or you. The fun of those knowing Berlin and New York is guaranteed. So jump in the live of Becky Bernstein and share her efforts of diet and finding her true love. How would you have acted?

To read the summary of the plot is to expect a tale about a family murder. To read this book is to find a self-indulgent autobiography, typical of those who believe their every thought is fascinating. Ms. Bernstein did have a tragedy in her life and there are moments when we are caught up in the relationship she lost with the death of her sister. But these are few compared to the endless display of her life events--over miles and years. I, for one, didn't find her life interesting enough to warrant this much type.

This is a beautifully written story of terrible, searing grief that the author suffered for years and years after the stabbing death of her sister while attending college.......The author stiffled her feelings, as taught so well by her parents, until she felt herself coming apart at the seams and knew she had to deal with it. The book is heart-breaking and wrenching, but I couldn't put it down because it is written with such honesty that I felt a friend was talking to me. The mystery of the murder is inconsequential, but has to be known before the author can know herself, so the book is part true crime and part gut-wrenching honesty. The book reminds me of Change Me Into Zeus' Daughter by Barbara Robinette Moss. I believe Moss is, like this author, a writing professor, and this is why these books can tell of such harrowing experiences in such a beautiful way. Thanks to the author for this book. It is important for all of us to remember that trauma has to be dealt with or it will haunt us forever........

I was very moved by Jane's story and I haven't been able to stop thinking about BEREFT. She writes beautifully and intelligently. Back in the 60's my older brother was killed in a car accident. Like Jane's family we never talked about it. Even today almost forty years later, we don't mention my brother in front of my mother. I wonder how this has effected my life? After reading this book, I hope to explore my own past and find out some answers.

I have a child who also has this disorder. Loving Rachel was important for me to read because there are no other books written which address Optic Nerve Hypoplasia or Septo Optic Dysplasia, but I want everyone to know who considers reading this that Loving Rachel is not a guide for you or your child and that no two people are affected in exactly the same way by this disorder. I could relate with some of the things Ms. Bernstein wrote about but mainly I walked away from this book feeling sad for this family and for Rachel.

I thought this was a wonderful book. It manages to be not only about what it's like to give birth to a disabled child, but about the particular nuances and responses of a family, about a marriage, an older child's attempts to navigate these waters, the narrator's complex, ambivalent but ultimately loving and couragous response to the child she has borne. Nothing is simple in this book--not Rachels' progress, not her family's response to her, not the medical world that sometimes seems to hurt her as much as it helps her, not the waiting and waiting to see what Rachel will become. Nonetheless, this is a story not only about endurance, but also about the complicated, powerful workings of maternal love.