The Promise of Stardust

Priscille Sibley's novel The Promise of Stardust is a novel I read several months ago and have been just dying to review and discuss. Finally, I can see what other people think of this novel.
Matt and Elle are high school sweethearts who have been trying to have a child for a long time. Matt is a neurosurgeon and Elle an astronaut with what appears to be a near perfect life, except for the unfulfilled desire to have a baby.  Elle, who is pregnant, falls from a ladder one day while helping her brother and suffers irreversible brain damage.  Unbeknownst to Matt, Elle was pregnant at the time, and he soon finds out that despite his wife's grim prognosis (there is no hope, really), she is still carrying their baby.  Matt is sure that Elle would want to remain on life support in order to give their child a chance at life, while her family argue against this because of Elle's own experience with her mother lingering on life support for too long.
Chapters alternate between the present day and Matt and Elle's past - high school sweethearts who parted for a time. Readers are privy to all the ups and downs of their relationship.
The novel presents both sides of this issue and I felt it difficult to pass judgement on either position.  This story is one that we have seen played out on the news, tearing at the heartstrings of viewers as we watch people on both sides of the debate suffer.  This novel is sure to be a book club favorite; there is plenty to discuss. The only less than enthusiastic thing I can say about it, is that it at times felt that the author was restating the same thing over and over again.  However, there is so much to like about this book that I was able to overlook that and wanted to keep reading to see how Elle and Matt's story ended.

Thanks to Bookreporter.com for giving me a chance to read and review an ARC of this book.