Rating: 
Summary: I Found This A Bit Unrealistic!!!
Review: I was hoping this book would be worth 5 stars,but then I read it. I was disappointed. I have so many questions.
Maybe they were there, and I overlooked them. Like, what state
was Blessings in? How old was Skip? Who was Lydia's former husband?The sentences often confused me
It seemed like two stories going at once. The baby in the box, and a woman and her memories. It seemed very unrealitic that he would take her without telling anyone about it. I would have liked to see him give Lydia more of a role in the baby's upbringing. He was made to look very stingy. How did he think he could live a full life with that much of a responsibility.
Because of a decent ending, I give this book three
stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Count your Blessings
Review: "There was a weight to the emptiness of rooms in which you had once lived that was more fearsome than anything she had ever encountered in life, not because they were haunted, but because they were not. The conversations, the quarrels, the long fraught silences, the tears: they had disappeared utterly and completely. A cemetary was a place intended to be still. It was here, where once there had been life, that death was felt most profoundly."
This magnificent piece of literature helps you to understand loss, life, love and lonliness. Within it's pages you expirience that of the young, the old, the naive, and the courageous. While one might anticipate for this story to be about adoption or death, you soon realize that it's mostly about a house... a home and all that it's walls have encompassed.
I was very touched by her attention to detail in describing how characters felt. This is a great read that will leave you speechless.
"Maybe every picture was a way of saying click click, bye bye. I will love you forever."
Rating:
Summary: What a wonderful book!
Review: BLESSINGS by Anna Quindlen
January 9, 2005
BLESSINGS by Anna Quindlen is probably going to make my top 20 list of books read in 2005. It is the story of Lydia Blessing, an elderly woman, heir to the estate known as BLESSINGS, built by her father Edward Blessing. Lydia Blessing is the last of her line. She's in her 80's, and her only daughter is childless and lives in the city. Throughout the book Lydia contemplates her life, and sees things as if she were living in her past. Her mind wanders in and out as she goes about her day, confusing the past with the present. Little things will remind her of her parents, her dear brother Sunny, or her dead husband Benny, and all will appear in her mind as if it were just yesterday. Through her memories, the reader will piece together the story of her life.
In the opening chapter, an unknown couple dumps off a baby at the Blessings estate, and Skip (Charles) Cuddy, the handyman that lives above the garage, discovers the baby and decides to keep her. He tries to keep it a secret, taking the baby with him as he works and cleverly hiding the baby so no one will discover her. He is very afraid that someone will take the baby from him. Skip has never had a child of his own, but for some reason he is driven to take care of this one, whom he names Faith.
Eventually, Lydia discovers the secret of baby Faith, but instead of calling the authorities, she helps Skip with the baby, and her life is instantly changed. She goes from a very rigid old-fashioned woman to a much happier person, looking forward to each day spent with the new baby and Skip. The housekeeper's daughter, college-bound Jennifer Foster, is also brought into the secret, and between the three of them, they take care of baby Faith, not even thinking that one day she may be taken away from them.
Without giving more away, I found BLESSINGS to be a wonderful surprise of a novel. I bought the book a few years back, not knowing what to expect. I had read BLACK AND BLUE because of the Oprah name attached to it, and enjoyed it a lot, but BLESSINGS is a step above it. Quindlen does an excellent job at blending the past with the present, working inside the mind of Lydia Blessing and slowly revealing all her family secrets. Things are revealed gradually, as she herself is slowly remembering her past, her happy times spent with her beloved brother Sunny and his best friend Benny, who later becomes her husband.
I also loved the "old time" feel of this book, since a lot of the novel takes place in the flashbacks of Lydia's memories. The Blessings estate is set apart from the town called Mount Mason, and is a secluded area complete with wildlife and tons of land. The backdrop of this place helps lend a feel to the overall story, one that is filled with nostalgia for the past and longing for things that are long gone. I loved Lydia's story, and the way it was told, in pieces, as if I was living inside Lydia's head. Overall, this book is a definite winner and will be on my top 20 list for 2005.
Rating: 
Summary: Shines a beautiful light on the human spirit!!
Review: Blessings is a very unique novel that tells the story of lives lived by what others expect, leading to isolation and the inability to be true to one's self.
In this story a young teenage couple abandons a newborn baby on the steps of a large home hoping to delete their mistake and that the child will lead a better life.
The child is found by the handyman, an ex-con, who lives out in the garage building. With no clear idea of what he intends to do, he takes the baby in and proceeds to raise her. His attempts to keep the baby a secret fail, of course, and that is where the story really blossoms. This young new life causes all of those involved to take a new look at their lives from a clearer perspective. For some it creates a hope that life can be better and changes can be made. For some the motives underlying past behavior, decisions and mistakes appears clearer and can be faced with new eyes.
This is a heartbreaking, yet hope-filled story, that shines a beautiful light on the human spirit.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent
Review: I find it stunning to read some reviews here that say "Blessings" is slow or confusing. I found it exceedingly full, fleshed, and refreshing from the usual "kick, boom, bam." Here is real writing, with such a sense of realism that you'll find the truth about life itself: It's not what you think you've missed that matters, but the things you find happiness in right now. Those things are everywhere - you just have to open your eyes to them.
The sense of place in "Blessings" is wondrous; the characterization exquisite. For those who complain that they didn't like that some things weren't explained exactly - that's what your imagination is for, and life is never fully explained exactly. If so, what would be the purpose of curiosity?
Interestingly, one of my favorite passages is when Skip tells Lydia the baby's name is Faith. She is so glad it isn't something odd or different, like "Summer." I can't wait to show my daughter this passage - my daughter, Summer! And her sister's name is Savannah! Gotta love it!
Rating:
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: Don't Trust the Title
Review: I loved Anna Quindlen's earlier works, so I couldn't wait to read this one. Throughout most of the book, she didn't disappoint me! Although she does not address a subject with quite the societal punch as her earlier works, she touches on such relevant subjects as homosexuality, child abandonment and class distinctions with a sure touch. Deftly, she weaves an enchanting, utterly believable, story of redemption, rejuvenation, renewal and possibilities. Her prose, of course, is beautiful. Along the way, she seizes your heart and gives you reason to fall in love with her main characters and even a few of the secondary ones. However, at the end, the novel's focus falters and falls flat. I didn't necessarily want it to end with all the ends tied up neatly in a happy little, unlikely scenario, but their final fates were inconsistent with what they had worked so hard to achieve. And somehow, I had the sense that they, too, were less than satisfied with their ending. I can picture them still waiting in the wings for the sequel so they can tell us what really happens to them.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent read
Review: I picked this up to read on the plane and finished it in a few short hours -- I couldn't put it down!I have long been an admirer of Anna Quindlen's columns and, when this book came out, I thought it sounded like an interesting story: A baby is abandoned at a beautiful but elderly estate and discovered by the caretaker, who has recently been released from jail. The caretaker (Skip) and the homeowner (Lydia) conspire to raise the baby, creating an unlikely but heartwarming family. I love Quindlen's writing -- the small details she provides about the characters and their settings, as well as the backgrounds on the characters themselves. Lydia's youth was particularly well described; it made her come alive as a vibrant woman who was eventually stifled into the bitter woman we first meet in the book. If you enjoyed "The Lovely Bones" or Anne Tyler's novels, this will definitely be a read you will cherish.
Rating:
Summary: Deeply Affecting Story of Three Very Different People
Review: Quindlen's writing is terrific. She often made me stop to roll one of her sentences around in my mind and think about the significance of it. With its themes of secrets and loss, it could have been a sad book, but instead it is reflective. We see three very different people--an elderly, aristocratic woman; a young, man searching for his place in life; and a newly minted baby who can only depend upon others--whose coming together makes for a most unusual "family" unit. The story gives us the disappointments of real life, yet at the end, we see the growth of the characters and the changes they have brought to one another. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a thoughtful, character-driven novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Character is out of character.
Review: Some books are page turners - you can't put them down. This is a book that I could not pick up. After reading some four chapters, that was it. Ms. QUINDLEN does not prepare us for her ex-con keeping the baby. Way, way out of character. Sure, I read science fiction and enjoy it, and I suspend disbelief in phasers, teleportation, and faster-than-light travel. But people should be real. I will not suspend belief about that. If you want to read about players that change character at the drop of a hat, or drop of a baby, then buy this book. If not - then click to the next offering.
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