Feb 5, 2013 by William Morrow
Paperback, 416 Pages
Review Copy

Matt and Elle, childhood friends, highschool sweethearts and long time married couple have faced almost everything in life together, good or bad, they have always had love and friendship to connect them. Lately multiple miscarriages have devastated them and Elle being at a point in her life of wanting a family, can only  think about having another baby no matter the risk. Matt on the other hand wants kids but does not want Elle to put her life in danger, so trying again for the 5th time is out of the question. Before the two can even travel the road of battling about it, Elle has a tragic freak accident and sustains massive head trauma putting her in a vegetative state hooked up to life support. Matt has no intention of keeping Elle alive and knows its time to say goodbye to his wife, but when he receives the news that Elle is eight weeks pregnant everything changes in an instant.

The thought of a child, a piece of Elle left behind changes Matt's mind and he decides to keep Elle on life support until the baby is born, knowing that this is what Elle would have wanted, knowing he will have to let her go after but wanting to give the unborn child a chance at life. So he hires an attorney and fights for guardianship over the baby without knowing he would create a storm of controversy in his wake. Others including fellow doctors, family and Matt's own mother do not agree and think he should terminate Elle's life, which in turn would automatically terminate the child's. His mother being Elle's power of attorney over medical decisions (due to Elle's own mother dying) since she was a teenager actually is taking it so seriously that she decides to fight Matt over the issue in court, trying to block his guardianship.

Even with the consequences of ripping the family apart Matt moves forward and an ensuing battle takes place over the right of the unborn child and the right of the mother who lays incompetent in a hospital bed, asking the question of living wills versus a spouses legal right. It also becomes a high profile case and brings the pro-lifers and the women's rights groups out in droves begging the debate on the right to life. Everyone thinks they knew Elle, and in a sense they did, due to her small town fame, but not as well as Matt knew her and over the course of the story he slowly reveals to the reader the layered past of him and Elle's romance, the young teenage love of her at 15 and him 17, the time at college and the times apart, the memories are primarily focused on a woman already dead but we are able to capture her through Matt and see the years before the accident, interlocked with the veracious court battle, media storm and Pro-life versus Pro-choice commentary that riddles the book. Matt feels like he's doing the right thing, even though the entire world seems to be against him, even though he is holding that one last shred of hope, as a brain surgeon himself he knows the possibility for Elle returning whole is gone, but the possibility of that child is not lost and he will fight to save it.

Heartbreaking and grueling issues face Matt's journey and the time spent going through Elle's journals rekindle the beginnings of their relationship and takes our character and us the reader on an unbelievable love story, a coming of age story, a story of loss and a story about life.

The Promise of Stardust was a stunning debut from Sibley, I was very impressed with the writing style and have to hand it to the author for taking on such a controversial social commentary, showing a remarkable viewpoint from the stand of the right to life, and the woman's right to choose. Personally while I shy away from making political or social commentary statements on my blog, I can assure you I stand by and am outspoken on my beliefs when it comes to abortion and the unborn. I would willingly hand over my life for any of my children and would so for my unborn child. Had I been Elle I would have wanted to be kept alive until my child was born. I think that's why I loved this book so much, it made me think about things so relevant to life and death choices. I also loved that the story was told by Matt, the husband left behind, I felt so incredibly connected to him that it made the story personal and the outcomes that much more emotional.

This book does not mess around or pull any punches, it grabs you, smacks you and knocks you down within the first chapter. A book for readers on both sides of the spectrum, one that may even change your view on how you look at the right to life debate. An intense nonstop contemporary ride with the pace and feel of a thriller, riddled with heartbreak and tears.