Helpful Score: 30
I read this book a while ago, and it's worth a read. Fran escapes from her abusive husband by using an underground network that helps abused women "disappear". She brings along her son, so that he will no longer be exposed to the violence her husband unleashes on her. She sets up a new life, but always in fear that her husband may find her. A heartbreaking account of what abuse does to a woman and her household. I'd give it more stars, except the ending really wasn't as good as the rest of the book. I didn't expect a "happily ever after" finish, and it had a bit of a twist, but it just seemed flat when compared to the rest of the novel.
Helpful Score: 9
This was an excellent book. It is a novel about an abused woman escaping via the underground with her son. It goes through her thoughts about leaving and about why she stayed as long as she did. You experience along with her what it would be like to pick up and leave everything you knew, including your identity, behind.
Helpful Score: 8
Absorbing story of a woman who decides to take back her life, for the sake of her child. Highly recommend!
Helpful Score: 8
I really got into this story. There are multiple reasons why a person stays in an abusive relationship and just as many why they leave. The book was thought-provoking and brought back my own memories of a similar situation. I carried these characters in my head for quite awhile after finishing the book. One quote stays with me always: "Your children make it impossible to regret your past. They're its finest fruits."
Helpful Score: 7
Quindlen renders the intricacies of spousal abuse with eerie accuracy, taking the reader deep within the realm of dysfunctional human ties. However, her vivid descriptions of abuse, emotional disintegration, and acute loneliness at times numb the reader with their realism.
Helpful Score: 4
Compelling story by one of my favorite authors. Written with a great flair for understanding the human soul and vulnerabilities of women.
Helpful Score: 4
A story that will have you feeling all kinds of emotions from love to rage, from passion to violence, but never letting you put it down, a real page turner!
Helpful Score: 4
I re-read this and enjoyed it again. It's uplifting in spite of it's despair.
Helpful Score: 4
Anna Quindlen kills me with her power over words. This was the first novel I'd read by her and the sentences still hang thick in my mind. Like most of Quindlen's book, this isn't a happy tale with happy people, but it captures the inner strength that we all have but hope to never need. Years after reading it, I still find myself wondering what happened after the last page.
Helpful Score: 4
This was a book I was not able to put down at all. The characters are very realistic and you get a true understanding of all the emotions that they are feeling.
Helpful Score: 3
Classic portrait of a memoir written in the novel format. Quindlen's upbringing is brought out in this fast paced novel. This is a must read for Quinglan fans.
Helpful Score: 3
I really enjoyed this book it was hard to put down.
Helpful Score: 3
Good book...a bit sappy, but easy to read.
Helpful Score: 3
reading this book was like watching a car accident; you want to look away but you can't. Very moving.
Helpful Score: 3
Sad, depressing, horrible ending
Helpful Score: 3
The main character was stupid from beginning to end, so it was difficult for me to muster up even a little sympathy for her tragic situation.
Helpful Score: 2
I found this book to be excellent. Once I started reading it, I could not put it down. It tells a painful and real story of many women in society today.
Helpful Score: 2
Very Frightening look at "spousal abuse" and the victimization of a family.
Helpful Score: 2
marriage that begins in passion and becomes violent.Well written.
Helpful Score: 2
This book will make you think and help you understand why women stay when they should leave and why they leave the way they sometimes do.
Helpful Score: 2
A stunning view of a marriage that turns violent. Beautifully written.
Helpful Score: 2
This book was really gripping! You really feel close to this abused woman and her young son, right up to the end and even after.
Helpful Score: 1
This is an awesome book with an honest turn. Very sad in many ways, but shows the depth of a woman's love for her son. Great author with an easy to read and understand style.
Helpful Score: 1
I read this book sometime in high school -so 5 or 6 years ago- and it made me stop and think about my life, and the lives of some of the women in my family. It's excellently written, and the character has stayed with me. I recommend it, especially for younger women.
Helpful Score: 1
Great BOOK!
Helpful Score: 1
Awesome book! Really got into the characters.
Helpful Score: 1
Great book, disappointing ending though.
Helpful Score: 1
This book is amazing. Anna Quindlen is truly a great author.
Helpful Score: 1
The story itself is sorta depressing but I really enjoyed reading it. You start to feel for the characters and can't help but wonder what will happen next.
Helpful Score: 1
I read this start to finish, but never really got into it...made myself finish it. The story has been written before, and more powerfully. I just didn't see the allure.
Helpful Score: 1
This book had me from the start. I think I read it in 2 nights. Nothing can come between a mother and her child. I would highly recommend it.
Helpful Score: 1
Excellent, very moving.
Helpful Score: 1
Very quick and easy read. Not too compelling, but I read it because it was on Oprah's list. Kind of a sore ending...not a fairy tale ending at all.
Helpful Score: 1
This is another great book from Anna Quinlen.It was very disturbing and moving. I really enjoyed this book. I was surprised at the end, which I really love in a book.
Helpful Score: 1
Very good book, also very sad.
Helpful Score: 1
Interesting but a bit too blah for my tastes. It's written in first person and a slow read. I finished it but didn't feel that "Ah" of satisfaction by the time it was over. Kept waiting for it to get better. Guess I'm spoiled by more fast-paced books. You'll probably like it; like I said, I did finish it instead of giving up.
Helpful Score: 1
TALE OF PASSION AND VIOLENCE... With black and blue, Quindlen unravavels the mysteries of loyal and lies, faith and fear, rage and regret.
Helpful Score: 1
This was a good book about a woman getting out of an abusive relationship. I had trouble throughout the book with some of the wording and the abrupt change in scene. However, if you can follow it, it is a VERY good book.
Helpful Score: 1
great writing, thought provoking, would love a sequal. the strength inside of us to do what we have to do, where does it come from. I like to think from God.
Helpful Score: 1
mesmerizing. fantastic. well-written.
Helpful Score: 1
good book
Helpful Score: 1
I like Anna Quindlen's writing very much.
Helpful Score: 1
The classic from the former New York Times columnist. A graat read.
Helpful Score: 1
This was one of the books that I had really been looking forward to reading. I was greatly disappointed in both the story line, the ending, and the numerous editorail errors that I found while reading. My opinion: skip it.
Helpful Score: 1
One of my favorite books. Terribly tragic and beautifully written. I am a true Anna Quindlen fan because of this book.
Helpful Score: 1
Very good book, it made me wonder how many women I know are living the life this woman was, and people didn't even know it.
Helpful Score: 1
This is a very good book, unfortunately it is very close to non fiction in the story material. I was sure I knew how it ended and I was surprised, it was not as I expected. A quick read, but the subject matter is tough, but certainly portraited appropriately.
Helpful Score: 1
This was the first Quindlen book for me, but it won't be the last. A very powerful book that hooked me almost immediately, although it was tough to read at times because of the depressing nature.
Helpful Score: 1
Excellent read, a real page turner. Very well written.
Helpful Score: 1
This one was dark & hit close to home. Had one of these in my past. A great story of strength & hope.
Helpful Score: 1
Wonderful read. Love,marriage,rage, passion and heartbreak
Helpful Score: 1
Excellent story, very well written.
Helpful Score: 1
Another wonderful book by Anna Quindlen!
One of Anna Quindlen's best! (But then, she never wrote a bad book)
Hard to put down, easy to get invlved with the main character.
I have yet to be disappointed by an Oprah's Book Club selection - this book was no exception.
This book was an excellent read, although the ending was very sad.
Powerful book. An excellent and insightful portrayal
This is a very good book. The nuances of the character's feelings are painted so well. The every present fear, the determination to protect her son, the slow steps in rebuilding her confidence.
I love this author, and this is one of her best, drawing you in and creating a very realistic situation.
I love this author, and this is one of her best, drawing you in and creating a very realistic situation.
This book is a well developed account of a wife that is abused for 20 years and her path towards freedom for herself and her son. Mostly heartbreaking throughout - however the ending will leave you speechless.
This is a very powerful and engrossing book.
Read in one evening! Could not put it down!
This was a great book , but if you don't like boos about abuse It is not for you.
I read this book in one day, it was so good I could not put it down. a very unexpected ending!
A good beach read. It is a fast easy read that was enjoyable.
This was a very believable book. I would recommend it highly.
This book was a page turner that gives you insite into domestic violence and what a mom must do for love. I loved how the author wrote the book.
Awesome book! An honest look at some of life's hardest choices and the reality of broken dreams. Anna Quindlen continues to write easy to read novels that pull you into the lives of her characters. Highly recommended.
Sobering look at domestic abuse
Unabridged on 7 cassettes Approx 10 hours
Unabridged on 7 cassettes Approx 10 hours
A book from "Oprah's Club" about a brave woman taking herself and her son out of an abusive relationship. It's so sad to think women do have to go through this type of experience. A real eye-opener.
This is in Oprah's Book Club. Very good book.
This book pulled me in right away. I read it in just a few short sittings. It was very good. It deals with domestic violence and the fear one feels even after they have left. Good story.
Terrifying! As upsetting as it is to read this book, I could not put it down.
A gut wrencher ...
For 18 years ,Fran Benedetto kept her secret.And hid her bruises.And stayed with Bobby because she wanted her son to have a father. And because,in spite of everything she loved him. Then one night, when she saw the look on her ten year old son's face, Fran finally made a choice - and ran for both of their lives. Now she is starting over in a city far from home, far from Bobby. And in this place she uses a name that isn't hers, and cradles her son in her arms and tries to forget. For the woman who now calls herself Beth, every day is a chance to heal.
For 18 years ,Fran Benedetto kept her secret.And hid her bruises.And stayed with Bobby because she wanted her son to have a father. And because,in spite of everything she loved him. Then one night, when she saw the look on her ten year old son's face, Fran finally made a choice - and ran for both of their lives. Now she is starting over in a city far from home, far from Bobby. And in this place she uses a name that isn't hers, and cradles her son in her arms and tries to forget. For the woman who now calls herself Beth, every day is a chance to heal.
good, solid book. Easy to read, finished pretty quickly.
Read this one when it first came out in hardcover. Great for book clubs lots to discuss about spousal abuse and abuse in general what keeps people trapped in this cycle.
Wow what a powerful book. A must read!!
This is an amazing cannot put down chick book, especially for any woman that has/does live in fear from abuse. It is heartbreaking, but there is a reason Oprah chose this for her book club. Great read!!
FANTASTIC Book! A real page turner and heartbreaker. This is my favorite Anna Quindlen book.
A walk in the shoes of an abused woman and how hard it is to get away from an abusive partner.
Wonderfully written, heart-thumping read.
For 18 years, she kept her secret and her bruises and stayed with her husband because she wanted her son to have a father. Then one night when she saw the look on her son's face, she finally made a choice and ran for both their lives.
Really haunting tale of a battered woman trying to ditch her old life and start anew with a new location and identity.
Fran Benedetto tells a story that we've heard all too often. At 19, she falls in love with the man of her dreams, Bobby Benedetto. But the dream turns into a nightmare until she finally decides to run away with her 10-year-old son and start a new life under a new name. Living in fear, 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 starts to create a new one, complete with a new love.
As Fran starts the long journey towards healing, she almost believes that she has escaped forever. Feeling free at last, she dreams that Bobby will not find her and reignite the complex combustion of attraction and destruction, lust and love...
As Fran starts the long journey towards healing, she almost believes that she has escaped forever. Feeling free at last, she dreams that Bobby will not find her and reignite the complex combustion of attraction and destruction, lust and love...
This riveting story is about Fran and Bobby Benedetto. They fell in love when they were young, and before they were even married Bobby started to show his violent nature. "The first time my husband hit me I was nineteen years old," begins Fran Benedetto. A heartbreaking story of how the years of abuse accumulated. Fran didn't want to leave Bobby because of their son, Robert. Plus, as Bobby said, What was she going to do? Call the cops? Bobby was a police officer. She finally had a home with friends, and she enjoyed her job at the local hospital as a nurse. But one day, Fran decides to leave Bobby with the help of a secret agency.
The agency relocates her to Florida, and tentatively she begins to rebuild her life. Robert starts a new school, she a new job, and they begin to make new friends. She is still fearful of the shadows, what lurks behind every corner, but she is trying. She really misses her sister Grace though. They spoke on the phone every day and when she left, she didn't tell anyone where she was going.
The story escalates to a heartbreaking ending, but one with hope. This being the first Anna Quindlen book I've read, I have to say I wasn't disappointed. The characters were emotional and the story gut-wrenching. Definitely will be looking for more from this author in the future.
The agency relocates her to Florida, and tentatively she begins to rebuild her life. Robert starts a new school, she a new job, and they begin to make new friends. She is still fearful of the shadows, what lurks behind every corner, but she is trying. She really misses her sister Grace though. They spoke on the phone every day and when she left, she didn't tell anyone where she was going.
The story escalates to a heartbreaking ending, but one with hope. This being the first Anna Quindlen book I've read, I have to say I wasn't disappointed. The characters were emotional and the story gut-wrenching. Definitely will be looking for more from this author in the future.
One of the best books I have ever read. Compelling, heartbreaking, it really keeps you with it the whole way. It is a great literary work. I highly recomend.
The plot and characters were good, the story line believable, but the ending left something to be desired. I also found several grammatical errors and typos, and I wasn't reading an ARC. That detracts from the book, in my opinion.
good read, as a mom, heartbreaking story
depressing but real
I read this a couple of years ago and remember it being very well-written and incredibly difficult to read. It's a story about domestic abuse and how it spirals into ever more awful horrors. I had nightmares after I read it...consider yourself forewarned.
Very compelling!! You will race through this book. This is the story of Fran Bennedetto, on the outside she is an accomplished ER nurse with a wonderful 8-year old son. Her husband, Bobby, is a police officer with a violent side that he takes out on her...but only where it won't show. She finally has the courage to disappear with her son and this story explores the difficulty of starting over under a new identity. You will admire her courage in adapting to her new life. And you will wait in terror, as she does, until her husband eventually finds her!
"Heartbreaking" is the first word that comes to mind to describe this book. It's beautifully written but SUCH a sad story... :(
Excellent and quick reading. A fictional look at domestic abuse. The author seems to have drawn her characters from many victims of abuse. It held my interest up to the very last page and opened my eyes to much I had never known nor considered about domestic violence.
Really good book. I couldn't put it down.
This book was really good.
A story about Fran who stayed with her huband for years, just so her some could have a father. One day she had enough and moved to a city far away. She had a different name, different everything. She created a whole new life for her and her son. Bobby, her husband she couldn't escape from him..ever and Fran is sure that Bobby fininding her is just a matter of time.
The ending wasn't what I expected at all. And the suspense actually kept me going. I didn't expect to like it this much after all the bad reviews I heard but it was a great book
I liked the story, but was very disappointed with the ending.
This book made me cry, but it was worth it.
Black and Blue will keep you turning pages from cover to cover. The whole time you are holding your breath. Great read.
This was a fantastic book. I love Anna Quindlen, and this was a different sort of story for her. I read it in a day because I could NOT put it down. She expertly and deftly describes the terror, the self-loathing, the disbelief in one's own self that leads a woman to stay in an abusive relationship. She also accurately describes what it is like to finally leave. I recommend this book to anyone and would put it on a reading list for adolescent girls as well!
This is an incredible story about the tragedy of domestic violence. Anna Quindlen's characters are very realistic and even though some strong females might find the main character a bit over the top, I thought she was a spot on portrait of a woman who is living in fear for her life from her husband. This, like most of Quindlen's novels, is a must read.
In this book, through the eyes and voice of the main character, we hear a spell binding story about how at 19, she fell in love and how a passionate
marriage becomes a nightmark, why she stayed, and what happened on the night she decided to run away with her ten year old son & start a new life under a new name. Living in fear in Florida yet with increasing confidence, she begins to heal from the pain of the past and almost believes the man she's escaped from will not find her and again provoke the attraction and destruction they had together.
This is a beautifully written and heart stopping story about a marriage, about abuse, and the inexplicable feelings between people who are connected in ways they don't understand. Great read!
marriage becomes a nightmark, why she stayed, and what happened on the night she decided to run away with her ten year old son & start a new life under a new name. Living in fear in Florida yet with increasing confidence, she begins to heal from the pain of the past and almost believes the man she's escaped from will not find her and again provoke the attraction and destruction they had together.
This is a beautifully written and heart stopping story about a marriage, about abuse, and the inexplicable feelings between people who are connected in ways they don't understand. Great read!
Fast reading and joyful, but somewhat too real for anyone who has gone through this type of experience. It truly explained the love/hate relationship between the abuser and abused and the intensity of the love that makes one stay too long.
This is a rather powerful novel about domestic violence. I think Quindlen did a fine job in relating this story. The characters were very strong. I must admit though, it had very strong overtones of _Sleeping With The Enemy_ at first. The ending took me by surprise and just didn't exactly seem to match where the beginning and middle were leading. I'm not exactly sure what was so off-putting about it. I guess it seemed rushed... The last chapter just did not line up at all. The opening and middle were riveting though. All in all, I enjoyed it, but did not love it.
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. Now living in FEAR in Florida. She know's he'll come and find her its just a matter of time. Does he find her or not? Here is where you come in. This is a non forgetting story of one battered woman. ***** stars for this reader.
Excellent read, although I wish the ending was diffrent.
Great novel about a serious issue - domestic violence.
Sad but too true many times. A good read and gives more understanding of how this system works to help.
"The first time my husband hit me I was nineteen years old," begins Fran Benedetto, the broken heroine of Anna Quindlen's Black and Blue. With one sweeping sentence, the door to an abused and tortured world is swung wide open and the psyche of a crushed and tattered self-image exposed. "Frannie, Frannie, Fran"--as Bobby Benedetto liked to call her before smashing her into kitchen appliances--was a young, energetic nursing student when she met her husband-to-be at a local Brooklyn bar. She was instantly captivated by his dark, brooding looks and magnetic personality, but her fascination soon solidified into a marital prison sentence of incessant abuse and the destruction of her own identity. After an especially horrific beating and rape, Fran realizes that the next attack could be the last. Fearing her son would be left alone with Bobby, she escapes one morning with her child. Fran's salvation comes in the form of Patty Bancroft and Co., a relocation agency for abused women that touts better service than the witness protection program. Armed only with a phone number, a few hundred dollars, and the help of several anonymous volunteers, Fran begins a new life. The agency relocates her to Florida, where she becomes Beth Crenshaw, a recently divorced home-care assistant from Delaware. Fran and her son adapt, meeting challenges with unexpected resilience and resolve until their past returns to haunt them. Quindlen renders the intricacies of spousal abuse with eerie accuracy, taking the reader deep within the realm of dysfunctional human ties. However, her vivid descriptions of abuse, emotional disintegration, and acute loneliness at times numb the reader with their realism.
To escape her abusive husband, Fran Benedetto and her son go into a quasi-Wittness Protection Program. With new identities, Fran and her son make new lives in rural Florida. When a child's life is endangered, however, Fran must choose between the child's life and her own.
Fran Benedetto escapes an abusive marriage, and begins another life for herself and her son, in another city, under another name.
She is sure it's just a matter of time before her husband finds her...
She is sure it's just a matter of time before her husband finds her...
From Oprah's "Book Club" list, come a very intense story about an abused wife. This book is almost impossible to put down, very tense and tightly written. You won't be able to help relating with the main character, will suffer right along with her, and the story will stay with you long after you read it.
Sad story of abuse and determination
on oprahs book club- after 18 years of an abusive husband fran hides her secret and starts over in a new city with her son
Having never read any of Anna Quindlen's books before, I was looking forward to this read. I have read articles written by her and thought she was a great writer and this book just adds to that thought. It was chosen as a book for Oprah's Book Club and deals with the life of a woman and her child as they deal with the repercussions of domestic violence. It gives the reader a great look into the life of a domestic violence victim. It is very well written and keeps you turning pages through the night.
For 18 years, Fran kept her secret and stayed with her husband - she wanted her son to have a father. But finally she has to run, and she does, changes her name, a new city, a new identity...but Bobby has promised he will never let her go. She feels it is just a matter of time before he finds her. Tension is awful and mesmerizing.
This is about one woman's courage in the face of an abusive marriage.
Anna Quindlen's writing is beautiful, and the story told here is stunning. A women takes off with her son to try to escape her abusive husband, knowing that he will do everything in his power to find them.
or eighteen years, Fran Benedetto kept her secret. And hid her bruises. And stayed with Bobby because she wanted her son to have a father. An because, in spite of everything, she loved him. Then one night, when she saw the look on her ten-year-old son's face, Fran finally made a choice- and ran for both of their lives......Now she is starting over in a city far from home, far from Bobby. And in this place she uses a name that isn't hers, and cradles her son in her arms, and tries to forget. For the woman who now calls herself Beth, every day is a chance to heal, to put together the pieces of her shattered self. And every day she waits for bobby to catch up with her. Because Bobby always said he would never let her go. And despite the flawlessness of her escape, Fran is certain of one thing. It is only a matter of time.....(from the book)
Oprah selection. Great story by a wonderful writer.
great book, love this author
Enjoyed very much
Oprah's book club! Very good read!
A gripping fictional account of spousal abuse. This is an entry in Oprah's Book Club (her original club).
Haunting........The kind of book you start reading and can't put down.
One of her best novels - completely compelling.
In Black and Blue, Fran Benedetto tells a spell-binding 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.
This was my first discovery of this author and I was very captivated from the beginning. The characters are all very likeable and the story line very real.
A New York Times bestseller, by the author of "One True Thing". A past Oprah's Book Club selection.
I heard so many mixed reviews that I didn't know what to expect. I found sadness, suspense and an unexpected ending. I really liked it. I wouldn't say love but definitely really liked
This powerfully written story grips readers from the very first page. Fran and Bobby are crazy about one another from the moment they first meet, but his violent nature reveals itself even before they are married. Later, the "accidents" become more and more frequent and harder to hide: a broken collarbone, a split lip, a black eye. Finally, Fran escapes the abusive marriage, but by then she is damaged both inside and out. Assisted by a group that aids battered women, she flees with her 10-year-old son, Robert, who knows the truth but is reluctant to believe that the father who loves him so much could beat his mother so badly. Fran begins a new life with a new identity, but she lives in fear, knowing that Bobby won't rest until he finds them. Also, Robert longs for his father. Love between parent and child, coming to grips with the difference between passion and love, the importance of honesty in relationships, and self-knowledge as an essential part of healing?YAs can learn much about these and other themes in this novel about a shattered family and a strong woman determined to rebuild her life
GREAT book!!
Loved this book. Very intense and oh so true...highly recommend!
Really well written account of an abusive realtionship and what it takes to disappear. Love is a strange thing!
I lost a lot of sleep from staying up too late reading this book! It's a story of a battered wife who stays in her marriage because she keeps hoping things will get better and she doesn't want to take her son's father from him. Unfortunately, there are many women who have been in the same situation and know from personal experience the heartache it causes. It has been added to Oprah's Book Club, which says to me that it's well worth reading.
Good book, but I had trouble getting into it...I think it was just me though :-)
excellent book
Enjoyable... easy to read.
Very well written and a little disturbing to someone who's been there.
A woman and her son escape to start a new life away from her abusive husband. Good book - quick read.
It is a good book but not a light read.
Sort of like a Lifetime movie yet realistic and good
Author of One true thing 'new book'
The courage that drove her groundbreaking New York Times op-ed page column surfaces in Anna Quindlen's third work of fiction, Black And Blue.
This is a stunning story about marriage, propelled by carefully crafted suspense and the believable and sympathetic character of Fran Benedetto. As Quindlen described to Matt Lauer on the set of NBC's "Today" program minutes before I sat down to talk with her, relationships are all about power. From the margin of domestic violence, Quindlen reveals the less poisonous power struggles inherent in all relationships.
This is a stunning story about marriage, propelled by carefully crafted suspense and the believable and sympathetic character of Fran Benedetto. As Quindlen described to Matt Lauer on the set of NBC's "Today" program minutes before I sat down to talk with her, relationships are all about power. From the margin of domestic violence, Quindlen reveals the less poisonous power struggles inherent in all relationships.
OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB
"Engrossing...Compassionate and tense." The New York Times
"A moving Masterpiece." Lexington Herold-Leader
"Her best novel yet." Publishers Weekly
"Engrossing...Compassionate and tense." The New York Times
"A moving Masterpiece." Lexington Herold-Leader
"Her best novel yet." Publishers Weekly
For eighteen years, Fran Benedetto kept her secret. And hid her bruises. And stayed with Bobby because she wanted her son to have a father. And because, in spite of everything, she loved him. Then one night, when she saw the look on her ten-year-old son's face, Fran finally made a choice - and ran for both their lives...
Now she is starting over in a city far from home, far from Bobby. And in this place she uses a name that isn't hers, and cradles her son in her arms, and tries to forget. For the woman who now calls herself Beth, everyday is a chance to heal, to put together the pieces of her shattered self. And every day she waits for Bobby to catch up to her. Because Bobby always said he would never let her go. And despite the flawlessness of her escape, Fran Benedetto is certain of one thing: It is only a matter of time..
Now she is starting over in a city far from home, far from Bobby. And in this place she uses a name that isn't hers, and cradles her son in her arms, and tries to forget. For the woman who now calls herself Beth, everyday is a chance to heal, to put together the pieces of her shattered self. And every day she waits for Bobby to catch up to her. Because Bobby always said he would never let her go. And despite the flawlessness of her escape, Fran Benedetto is certain of one thing: It is only a matter of time..
Good Book!
For eighteen years Fran Benedetto kept her secret. And his her bruises. And stayed with Bobby because she wanted her son to have a father. And because, in spite of everything, she loved him. Then one night, when she saw the look on her ten-year-old son's face, Fran finally made a choice---and ran for both their lives.
I liked this book.
From Amazon.com:
"The first time my husband hit me I was nineteen years old," begins Fran Benedetto, the broken heroine of Anna Quindlen's Black and Blue. With one sweeping sentence, the door to an abused and tortured world is swung wide open and the psyche of a crushed and tattered self-image exposed. "Frannie, Frannie, Fran"--as Bobby Benedetto liked to call her before smashing her into kitchen appliances--was a young, energetic nursing student when she met her husband-to-be at a local Brooklyn bar. She was instantly captivated by his dark, brooding looks and magnetic personality, but her fascination soon solidified into a marital prison sentence of incessant abuse and the destruction of her own identity. After an especially horrific beating and rape, Fran realizes that the next attack could be the last. Fearing her son would be left alone with Bobby, she escapes one morning with her child. Fran's salvation comes in the form of Patty Bancroft and Co., a relocation agency for abused women that touts better service than the witness protection program. Armed only with a phone number, a few hundred dollars, and the help of several anonymous volunteers, Fran begins a new life. The agency relocates her to Florida, where she becomes Beth Crenshaw, a recently divorced home-care assistant from Delaware. Fran and her son adapt, meeting challenges with unexpected resilience and resolve until their past returns to haunt them. Quindlen renders the intricacies of spousal abuse with eerie accuracy, taking the reader deep within the realm of dysfunctional human ties. However, her vivid descriptions of abuse, emotional disintegration, and acute loneliness at times numb the reader with their realism.
"The first time my husband hit me I was nineteen years old," begins Fran Benedetto, the broken heroine of Anna Quindlen's Black and Blue. With one sweeping sentence, the door to an abused and tortured world is swung wide open and the psyche of a crushed and tattered self-image exposed. "Frannie, Frannie, Fran"--as Bobby Benedetto liked to call her before smashing her into kitchen appliances--was a young, energetic nursing student when she met her husband-to-be at a local Brooklyn bar. She was instantly captivated by his dark, brooding looks and magnetic personality, but her fascination soon solidified into a marital prison sentence of incessant abuse and the destruction of her own identity. After an especially horrific beating and rape, Fran realizes that the next attack could be the last. Fearing her son would be left alone with Bobby, she escapes one morning with her child. Fran's salvation comes in the form of Patty Bancroft and Co., a relocation agency for abused women that touts better service than the witness protection program. Armed only with a phone number, a few hundred dollars, and the help of several anonymous volunteers, Fran begins a new life. The agency relocates her to Florida, where she becomes Beth Crenshaw, a recently divorced home-care assistant from Delaware. Fran and her son adapt, meeting challenges with unexpected resilience and resolve until their past returns to haunt them. Quindlen renders the intricacies of spousal abuse with eerie accuracy, taking the reader deep within the realm of dysfunctional human ties. However, her vivid descriptions of abuse, emotional disintegration, and acute loneliness at times numb the reader with their realism.
Excellent - an Oprah's Book Club book.
Oprah's Book Club and NY Times Bestseller
I honestly never read this book, it was my mothers but she really seemed to enjoy it. And hey, so did Oprah.
For eighteeen years, Fran Benedetto kept her secret and hid her bruises and stayed with Bobby because she wanted he son to have a father. And because, in spite of everything, she loved him. Then one night, when she saw the look on her ten year old son's face, Fran finally made a choice and ran for both their lives....
I haven't read this yet, but it has been highly recommended to me. I received a hard copy as a gift so don't need this one.
I'm in the middle of this one right now, and so far it's pretty good. Maybe it's just me, but it makes me crazy when I find typos. Why do they pay an editor if I can find a misspelling on every other page? Other than that, though, not too bad. :)
an Oprah Book Club Book
I have not read this book
