Black and Blue (AUDIO CASSETTE) Author:Anna Quindlen
Audio book costs 2 credits.
Book Description:
4 cassettes / 4 hours Read by Lili Taylor
With this stunning novel about a marriage that begins in passion and becomes violent, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and bestselling author of One True Thing moves into a new dimension as a writer of superb fiction.
With this stunning novel about a woman and a marriage that begins in passion and becomes violent, the Pulitzer Prize--winning journalist and bestselling author of One True Thing and Object Lessons moves to a new dimension as a writer of superb fiction. "If literature were judged solely by its ability to elicit strong emotions," Kirkus Reviews said about One True Thing, "columnist-cum-novelist Quindlen would win another Pulitzer." And the same will be said about Black and Blue, a brilliant novel of suspense, substance, and importance.
In Black and Blue, Fran Benedetto tells a spellbinding story: how at nineteen she fell in love with Bobby Benedetto, how their passionate marriage became a nightmare, why she stayed, and what happened on the night she finally decided to run away with her ten-year-old son and start a new life under a new name. Living in fear in Florida--yet with increasing confidence, freedom, and hope--Fran unravels the complex threads of family, identity, and desire that shape a woman's life, even as she begins to create a new one. As Fran starts to heal from the pain of the past, she almost believes she has escaped it--that Bobby Benedetto will not find her and again provoke the complex combustion between them of attraction and destruction, lust and love.
Black and Blue is a beautifully written, heart-stopping story in which Anna Quindlen writes with power, wisdom, and humor about the real lives of men and women, the varieties of people and love, the bonds between mother and child, the solace of family and friendship, the inexplicable feelings between people who are passionately connected in ways they don't understand. It is a remarkable work of fiction by the writer whom Alice Hoffman has called "a national treasure."
Bonnie S. (Bonnie) from LOONEYVILLE, WV wrote on 8/17/2007...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
This story, the reading of it, is haunting me. When first I got it I thought, been there, done that...another woman runs from an abusive husband, with the kid, and the husband is a cop. I think it was only because Lili Taylor is the reader that I went with this. I am so glad. Yes, the theme is well-overdone, but this is done so well, no gore, and absolute beauty in the emotions and words of the heroine Fran/Beth. Others have said it, and I've found it myself, the reader makes or breaks the book, and I cannot imagine feeling this story as much if not for the soft, almost breathless snap Taylor puts to the words, just the right touch of that Brooklyn accent to keep it from being cliched; a hint of Southern drawl for Cindy. I can't emphasize enough how I believe Taylor made this book. An unexpected twist for an ending, one that leaves us yearning along with Beth, and saddened me that the story was over. This book and the characters pulled me so strongly that for the very first time EVER, I brought the tapes into the house and popped them into a cassette and "read" in the dark. My first Quinlen, but NOT my last.
Rate These Member Reviews
Laurie D. (dutrall) from PORTSMOUTH, RI wrote on 4/19/2008...
This book was very good and read superbly by Lily Taylor. She was spot on with the narration.
Lisa W. (cre8tive1) from ROCHELLE, IL wrote on 6/18/2006...
Synopsis
An abused wife named Frannie leaves home with her young son, and lives under a new identity in Florida, where she tries to make a comfortable life for the two of them. She is always in fear that her husband will find her, however, and ultimately he does, but Frannie is resilient, and survives to go on to a new life.
Carla H. from VAN BUREN, AR wrote on 1/14/2006...
A battered mother and her son secretly move to a new town and begin to build new lives. A wonderful story of self realization and determination.
Being a grief therapist and an expert in the field of domestic violence, I found this to be an EXCELLENT fictional account of a woman who is abused and trying to break free. Although it is abridged, it doesn't have the feel of a lot of abridged tapes, and it felt very satisfying both as I listened and when it was over. Sad but not maudlin.
Jeanne L. (jadaskye) from WORTHINGTON, PA wrote on 7/14/2005...
This book is an Oprah's Club audio cassette. I couldn't put it down it is wonderful. IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE THAT HAS BEEN ABUSED THis book is an eye opener....Even if not......IT IS A BOOK THAT YOU WILL NOT WANT TO STOP LISTENING TO.........IT IS AMAZING