Blessings

Rating:
Summary: Definitely a Skimmer
Review: The description of the book emphasized the plot, but its contents barely touched on the plot. It seemed to me that the actual purpose of the book was to detail the personality and background of some of its characters. It had a plot which seemed interesting at the outset but the author constantly jumped from the plot to reminiscing about the past. Its continuity got lost so many times that I wonder why I would read another book by the same author.

Rating:
Summary: Blessings
Review: this book was really good, but not fantastic. yeah i would recommend it, but not for some one whos looking for a book full of excitement. its one of those books you read on a slow winter day. its also not one of those books you can read in one sitting

Rating:
Summary: Life is what happens to us while we're making other plans
Review: This is the first book I've read by Anna Quinlen. It's an imaginative story with characters who seem like people you might run into at church, at the country club or at the grocery store...folks you've seen here and there and maybe wondered about the lives they're living.

When Skip Cuddy, handyman/gardener on the Blessings estate, decides to keep a foundling he finds quite literally on his doorstep, he discovers more about life and about himself than he could ever have imagined.

As the story develops, Quinlen deftly interweaves past and present, all the while painting memorable word pictures of settings and individuals. The reader must pay close attention as memories flow -- Lydia Blessing, who is 80+, shares the protagonist role with Skip. Through her the reader participates in the natural flow of an aging mind. These parts of the story are quite skillfully done; and are clearly recognizable to someone who is familiar with the elderly.

The writer's use of language is delightful. I get so tired of choppy, incomplete sentences in modern novels. Quinlen's writing is not only intelligent, but gloriously descriptive. The story becomes a delightful dream that unfolds in the imagination.

The ending is not one I would have chosen, but I did have the impression that there's more to be written about these characters, especially little Faith and Jenny and Skip. Whatever happens to Skip in the rest of his life, the lessons he has learned during the course of the events in the book have changed him and he will create a future for himself that is far better than he would have had if little Faith had not come into his life.

Anna Quinlen is an immensely talented writer. I'm looking forward to reading her other books and I'll certainly eagerly await the next one.

Rating:
Summary: Lovely, slow-paced tale of the beauty & pain that is life.
Review: This was my first book by Anna Quindlen and I purposely did not read reviews because I love surprises and I came across many as I read this unabridged audiobook (forgive me for any name misspellings).

The story starts out when two teens drive up to a fancy schmancy estate called "Blessings" and leave a mysterious box.

The newest caretaker, Skip Cutty (Cuttie?), discovers the box. When he sees the beautiful baby girl bundled inside he impulsively decides to keep and care her. Because he's an ex-convict on parole (he's a good guy but was in the wrong place at the wrong time) he knows this is the last thing he should be doing but his heart tells him it is right. So Skip securely straps the baby, who he names Faith, to his chest as he performs his daily tasks and does his best to keep her a secret from the other employees at Blessings.

Mrs. Blessing the brittle, set-in-her-ways dowager of the Blessing estate enjoys spying on her employees with binoculars and is very curious about Skip. Eventually Mrs. Blessings discovers Skip's secret but much to his surprise agrees to keep the baby a secret, even going so far as helping him care for Faith.

Slowly a friendship and trust develop between Mrs. Blessing, Skip and a young lady named Jennifer. The bulk of the story is told from Mrs. Blessing's point of view as she questions many of the choices she made during her long life and regrets the way she lived her life and raised her daughter (their relationship is distant at best). Skip and baby Faith seem to be the catalyst for her reflection.

I enjoyed this book. The writing is absolutely beautiful however I would've enjoyed it more if the story had been told more from the point of view of Skip. Mrs. Blessing wasn't nearly as interesting to me as Skip. Here is this young guy who has stumbled through life with very little love and the lowest of expectations. As expected his childhood friends all turn into hoodlums but Skip wants something more, even though he never knows quite what that may be (to simply be a respectable person maybe?). Instead of using his past as a crutch, as so many with his background tend to do, he decides to work hard and do the best he can. His love for Faith was exquisitely portrayed and lovely to read.

I'm glad I had the opportunity to spend some time with Skip, Jennifer, baby Faith, the cranky housekeeper Nadine and even Mrs. Blessing.



Rating:
Summary: Birth, re-birth, love and redemption
Review: When a tiny baby is found outside of a caretaker's garage at a down at its heels estate, many lives are changed. Anne Quinlan touches the reader's heart on many different levels. A bitter, eccentric old dowager who has no heirs, an ex-con with a heart of gold, and a brilliant Eurasian girl are the main characters. Oh, and yes, there is the baby, named "FAITH". Faith is the cornerstone of this novel. Times change, mores change, and people can grow to become bitter, or more open to others. The only thing which annoyed me was the mother of the child, the teenaged mother, who doesn't deserve the baby. Obviously,the author leaves you believing that her parents will take over the childcare of the baby and all will be well. Secrets of long ago color the present, adn when the dowager dies, the future as well. A great book to be read in a couple of days. A heartwarmer. Even if loose ends tie up a little too easily, and characters redeem themselves too nobly in the end it is a great read. If everything seems a little too perfect, enjoy it for what it is;a book of second chances.