Rating: 
Summary: Ladies' magazine fiction
Review: It amazed me that a writer who is published in a major, national magazine (Newsweek) could produce a novel so poorly written; the dialog and descriptions are graceless and the story cliched. However, if you can endure the tedium of the first half of the book, the story does get mildly interesting towards the end. Mildly.Come on, Anna. This isn't young adult fiction, is it?
Rating: 
Summary: Anna Quindlen writes an enveloping novel about life
Review: When Charles "Skip" Cuddy is released from county jail and goes to work for octogenarian Lydia Blessing, he has no idea what a task he has undertaken. When he leaves his garage apartment to make Ms. Blessing's morning coffee, a surprise awaits him at the bottom of the stairs. There, wrapped in a flannel shirt, lies an abandoned baby in a cardboard box. Afraid of what his overbearing boss's reaction might be, he decides to keep the baby a secret. But a young man with no fatherhood experience can't keep the baby hidden for long! "People love the idea of a place with a name," says a realtor about the Blessing estate. But what the residents of Mount Mason love more than a place with a name are the scandals that have surrounded the Blessings over the years. In BLESSINGS, readers are drawn into the world of Lydia Blessing as she deals with family demons and the skeletons in her own closet. The unwanted child of a stern mother and doting father, Lydia continues the legacy by alienating her own daughter, the illegitimate child of one of her father's acquaintances. But when newborn Faith makes her appearance on the Blessings scene, Lydia's sour countenance is softened and she discovers the joys of motherhood that she had never known were possible. As Charles and Lydia embark on their journeys to self-discovery, the hardships of both destitution and privilege are revealed. The tragedy of the story continually deepens until the return of Faith to her birthmother and the death of Lydia. This book is not entertaining --- it is enveloping. Anna Quindlen has masterfully woven an unpredictable plot and created characters with amazing depth. Quindlen's descriptive writing moves the reader to tears of empathy for even the most insignificant characters. Void of comic relief or unimaginably happy endings, BLESSINGS offers an emotional catharsis for even the most stoic reader. --- Reviewed by Melissa Brown
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not her best....
Review: Probably her best is/was _One True Thing_ and I admit that what was off-putting for me about this novel was its' main premise, that a young man who had been so poorly parented himself would undertake to parent an orphan baby girl. I could't imagine a real happy ending, even though so many people do this daily. But the novel isn't really about the guy, Skip; it's about the old lady, Lydia Blessing. Lydia has spent her life being embittered and guilty over her youth. It prevented her from being present in her real life. It prevented her from being able to see how life impacted others around her. She has a cornerstone event that helps her realize some fundamental things in her life and in that, we see Anna Quindlen's phenomenal ability to show people at the cross roads. Because it is an Anna Quindlen book, having a fundamental realization doesn't make life suddenly great, but it still constitutes a great personal leap for that person (and the reader). Relievedly, Skip doesn't end parenting a little girl he is ill suited to parent but, redemptively, you see that even he will be okay and probably better off for his brief time as a surrogate parent. I agree with the reader who said she wished she had gotten to know more about the daughter, Meredith, but it really wasn't the daughter's story AND you get a sense that somehow (almost like Skip in the story) that the daughter turned into a great person in spite of her raising by the emotionally cold Lydia. So for baby Faith, Skip and the daughter, Meredith, one idea seems to be that a rough or unseemly beginning does not pre-determine the quality of life. It is a hopeful book. Overall, I'd recommend the read. An Anna Quindlen story that shows a lot of heart and is well worth the time.
Rating: 
Summary: An "Okay" Book-Needed More Character Depth
Review: In this story, a teenage couple drives up, late at night, headlights out, to Blessings, the estate owned by Lydia Blessing. They leave a box and take off, and in this instant, the world of Blessings is changed forever. Blessings telles us the story of Skip Cuddy, who is caretaker of the estate, who finds a baby asleep in the box that was left there. He wants to keep her, and Lydia, for her own reasons decides to go along with Skip and help him. The secrets of the past, how they affect the decisions and lives of people in the present, what makes a person, a life, legitimate or illegitimate, and who decides; the unique resources people find in themselves and in a community- are told in this novel. I felt that the story needed more development of the characters for certain, and the author could have given them more backgrounds and depth. Something was missing along that line for sure.
Rating:
Summary: at least it didn['t end with a cliche
Review: but, that's about it...the story seems as though it were written by a less able writer, who made poor decisions about how and when to end the story or even why. I would have liked to have learned more about Mrs. Blessing's friend Jess, or her daughter, Meredith. Mrs. Blessing remained a rather shallow person, as evidenced by her quick reaction to judge Skip adversely. The book just seemed like it left some of the best parts of the story untold and wrapped it up much too quickly at the end(maybe Anna got tired of the story or was in a hurry to go on vacation!!!)
Rating:
Summary: Reminds me of the wonderful Shell Seekers
Review: Why? Because of the young people, Skip and Jennifer, and their relationship with the old woman, Mrs. Blessing. There's a warmth and loveliness there that Quindlen conveys beautifully. Blessings, the home/estate, was never the idyllic place that outsiders and visitors thought it was. There was hypocrisy and bitterness and lives spoiled. No one was really happy---and, if they were, it was not for very long. Skip Cuddy appears to be the classic loser, but he is actually a moral and principled young man with the great bad luck to be born to a dysfunctional blue-collar family. Circumstances have conspired to hold him back from the spark of promise he showed in elementary school. He hangs around with the wrong people and gets into trouble. He doesn't rat on these (dubious) friends, though, and gets grudging respect from his peers. Jennifer Foster, half-Korean, daughter of Nadine, Mrs. Blessing's unpleasant, monosyllabic housekeeper, wants better things than a life in Mount Mason, but is held back by too-strong family pressures and lack of money. Mrs. Blessing has a lot of money, no people skills, and a lifetime of accumulated bitterness. And, then, one night, a baby is abandoned at Blessings, and Skip takes her in. This is a charming story, slighter than the masterful Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher but in the same spirit. People can affect others for good and for ill, and Blessings explores both aspects of the effect we have on each other. Quindlen writes with a loving hand. We care for these people and suffer with them, too.
Rating: 
Summary: Lovely, lyrical writing
Review: Anna Quindlen, has always been a wonderful writer,and I've enjoyed all her published work, but in "Blessings" she really hits her stride as a novelist. The almost poetic narrative descriptions are stunning in their ability to evoke time, place and social class. Her portrait of Lydia Blessing, both past and present, is quite brilliant. The many themes of life (love, urequited dreams, change, chance, tolerance and acceptance, to name a few) are woven delicately and well. The only thing I didn't like about this book was the last page. The last lines felt awkward and insignificant, which seemed so uncharacteristic to the rest of the book. I still strongly recommend "Blessings", especially to women over 40.
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Summary: Textbook Example of Literary Hypocrisy
Review: Anna Quinlen's rise at the NYT, and subsequent success as a novelist is a textbook example of hypocrisy in the mainstream media and literary community. She has never been an interesting writer. Her fiction is filled with overwrought, empty descriptions. Her characters are the typical self-absorbed, empty headed, Caucasian hypocrites who litter the nation's landscape. There are loads of authors far better than her whom the reading public and the snobs at the New York Times should be paying attention to. But like Holden Caufield says in Sallinger's classic, "The Catcher in the Rye," the world is run by phonies. And Quinlen happens to be one of their kind. So they promote her literary career. Do yourself a favor and purchase a book by a good author who doesn't receive anywhere near the attention this literary con artist does.
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Summary: An unlikely premise
Review: I have read the previous works of Anna Quindlen and have enjoyed them quite a bit. I wish I could say the same thing for "Blessings", I just could not get past the incrediably unlikely premise that this story is based on. We have Skip, a twentysomething single guy, down on his luck, and needing a break after taking the fall for a robbery attempt and spending some time in jail. He goes to work for Lydia Blessing an elderly, wealthy, widow with more than her share of personal and family secrets. Now enter baby "Faith". Skip finds a newborn foundling left on his doorstep (he lives over the garage at Lydia's estate), and what does our petty criminal with a heart of gold decide; I'll keep this baby as my own, yes, that won't cause any concerns with my parole officer. Honestly what do you think the chances of a 20 year old guy with a whole heap of issues, taking on the dauting responsibilities of caring for a newborn not his own are? After I suspended all disbelief, I began to think, well it is possible. Then I remembered what a newborn is all about and thought no way, no how. In any event, the story moves on with Lydia finding out about the baby and the two forming an odd friendship based on their growing and mutual adoration of the infant. There was likely no way to end this story "happily", but this ending felt rushed and forced to me, not at all satisfying. I actually found the side story about Lydia Blessings early life, her secrets and family far more interesting than the Skip and the baby route. The author could easily have written a far more compelling novel, by focusing just on this storyline. As it stands this one comes off about as bland as baby formula.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant here and there...mostly just okay
Review: This book was only a little over 200 pages; thus, I thought I would finish it in one day. It took me a little over a week. I would read some and then put it aside. The premise of the book held promise. A handyman on an estate inhabited by an ancient woman finds an abandoned baby. He turns into a wonderful father, and the old woman seems to have found new life. But, alas, all for naught because the old woman doesn't trust him after all. While the robbery seemed contrived to me, there had to be some way to end this. Given the brevity of the novel, apparently Anna thought the same thing. The last fifty pages were the best. Once again, Anna did show her ability for fine writing, but the characters were a bit one-dimensional. I would have like to have explored them a bit more in depth.
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