Rating: 
Summary: 3 1/2 stars. An uneven story that, mostly, redeems itself
Review: It took me a good five or six chapters to warm up to this book. There is alot of effort spent on a shaky set-up for the story that is about to unfold. But, as it turns out, the character of Lydia Blessings saves this novel; she reminded me quite a alot of Margaret Laurence's Hagar (The Stone Angel) and of Margaret Atwood's Iris (The Blind Assasin). The more I got to know her, the more about her I wanted to know. Blessings is the name of the estate of Lydia Blessings, an ex-New York socialite who, in her early twenties, became pregnant by a married man and was sent by her mother to live at the family's country estate so as to not embarrass the family. It was supposed to be a temporary arrangement, but Lydia never left the place, and is now in her 80's. The book opens as a young teenage couple, in the dark of night, leave their newborn baby in a box on the stoop outside the back of the estate (if you think that's a bit of an obvious parallel, just wait, it gets better). Skip, the estate's new caretaker, lives in the apartment above the garage and finds the child in the morning. Skip is an ex-convict - actually, an unwilling participant in a robbery years ago where his friends let him take the fall - trying to scrape out a living, and when he finds the baby he (unbelievably) becomes paternal, decides to keep her, and names her Faith (this kind of stuff - at the Blessings estate, a baby, who will obviously turn out to be a blessing for this place and the people in it, is named Faith - just turns me off. But eventually, I got over it.) Skip tries to keep the baby a secret (another obvious parallel), but before long Lydia discovers her. She lets Skip keep Faith, and in fact, becomes enamored with the child herself. The story of Skip and Faith becomes much more complicated, and even more ludicrous, as the novel continues, but that's not where the interest in this book lies. This out-and-out obvious set-up is the vehicle Quindlen uses to tell Lydia's story - a rigid, isolated old woman, basically exiled on this estate, who is set in her ways, has plenty of regrets, and is closed off to showing love and affection, even for her own daughter. Faith begins to bring new life to this household and begins to really affect Lydia, causing her to reflect on her life. As she relives the many layers of that life, and reveals the many secrets it holds, I started not being able to put the book down. You sense that Quindlen is leading you (and Lydia) somewhere important, some revelation that will affect and change everything. It's Lydia's story that Quindlen unfolds with exceptional skill, and it makes all the "blessings" and "faith" nonsense worth putting up with. It becomes easier and easier to forgive Quindlen some of the many surface problems of the story. Overall, I ended up enjoying the book quite a bit; it's an uneven story, but the parts Quindlen does well makes the book worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Light reading
Review: An unwed couple drops an unwanted newborn off at the richest house in town. But the baby does not become heir to wealth. The baby is taken in by the gardener, a young single man just out of jail. The news isn't all bad though. The man loves his new baby and takes great care of her. How to judge this book? By level of interest? By depth of characters? It deserves a passing grade. It held my interest. Several of the characters are memorable. It didn't deeply affect me or teach me anything new. In a few places the author's grammar was awkwardly correct. She repeats the words "had had" over and over in some chapters. My reaction was - yes, it looks correct, but God is it awkward to keep repeating that. I agree with another reviewer that the ending is a bust. It makes me say "if you don't care, why should I?" If your heart is broken, is it really so easy to just walk?
Rating: 
Summary: A Story That Stays With You
Review: I highly recommend Blessings, the new book by Anna Quindlen. I listened to this book on CD in the car on my way to work and found myself sitting in the parking lot (before work) and in my driveway (after work) in order to hear the next part. It is a superbly drawn story of life, regrets, loss, and the hope that our lives can change unexpectedly for the better at any time and through many different ways. Over all it has left me with the lesson that sometimes we give something up (a dream, a person, a situation) that's painful in order to grow and change and get something bigger in return.
Quindlen's characters are realistically drawn, act as we expect them to, but always with a slight twist or turn that brings home their authenticity. Her description of the Blessings estate makes it easy for the mind to paint its picture so that we are sitting on the chair beside the pond with Lydia or doing chores with Skip. We fall in love with Faith as sure as all who come in contact with her do.
Joan Allen's narration is masterfully done. Each word, whether heard or read, is exquisite, each sentence filled with meaning.
This is a story that will stay with you long after the last word is read. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: How could Anna do this to me?
Review: I won't rehash the story because the other reviews do a splendid job of that. I will say what I came her to query - which is that I cannot understand for the life of me why a writer would end such a brilliant book so badly? I love Anna Quindlan's work. I adore her. But I am clueless as to how she could put so much heart and effort into a story and come up with the ending she did. And why did any editor accept it? The conclusion of this book goes against every single thing that it gave along the way. Reading BLESSINGS was akin to the most beautiful and soul-inspiring drive ever taken, only to arrive at an overgrown cemetary or a land-fill. Why oh why did she do this to me?
Rating:
Summary: Mixed blessings.
Review: "Faith fell right from the sky," one character remarks in BLESSINGS, "right down to Mr. Mom" (p. 132). In the first few pages of Pulitzer-Prize-winning-colmunist-turned-novelist Anna Quindlen's fourth novel, a teenage couple delivers a box late one night to the garage doorstep of the Blessings' estate. While the owner of the estate sleeps, the box shudders and shimmies. Quindlen's novel tells the story of ex-con handyman, Skip Cuddy, who discovers a baby girl asleep in the box, his 80-year-old employer Lydia Blessing, and their decision to keep the infant they call Faith. In a word, BLESSINGS is about family. Quindlen draws her characters well in BLESSINGS and, as in her previous novels, OBJECT LESSONS, ONE TRUE THING and BLACK AND BLUE, she succeeds in eliciting a powerful emotional response from her reader to the rather ordinary lives of her characters. However, despite its strengths--and there are many, Quindlen's latest novel does not rise to the level of great fiction and, for me, what could have been a blessing to read turned out to be a disappointment. G. Merritt
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: Blessings~
Review: Skip Cuddy is a young man with not the best reputation in town. He's living above the garage at the Blessings Estate, where he's landed a job as a handyman. While the story that Quindlen tells, is about Skip discovering a newborn infant in a box on his door step, the real story of Blessings is so much more. When the story begins there are many amusing scenes of an inexperienced guy trying to care for an infant. As the story develops we see how a reclusive old widow with a lot of money, and a poor uneducated handyman with a bad rap, are brought together in the most unusual of circumstances. The cast of characters in Blessings is rich and endearing. The ideas of lost dreams, secrets, beauty and love are all exposed in this well written and engaging novel.
Rating:
Summary: Blessings
Review: I am a picky reader and also careful on subject matter. This is excellent throughout and has all the characteristics of a good book especially grasping the reader. The characters are all well revealed, no doubts most readers of this style will love this. Also recommended: SB: 1 or God by Karl Maddox
Rating:
Summary: A Book of Wonder
Review: Although the story line in BLESSINGS was different than I expected, QUINDLEN artfully draws both parallel and contrast in the haves and have nots. What some may dismiss, others may seek, etc. Through it all, however, I found myself coming back to the word redemption, because that, in my reading of this fine work, is what surfaced as the undying theme. If you are looking to read a book about people, relationships, emotional salvation, etc., then read this one... it will not disappoint.
Rating:
Summary: Just a nice story...
Review: This, I thought, was one of those nice, quick reads. The characters were engaging, the settings and descriptions were on the money, the plot, thought not overwhelming, was interesting enough to keep you turning the pages. I enjoyed the way Ms. Quindlen wrote, and the insights to a "dad's" perspective on raising an infant. This book evoked many emotions without being preachy. Great for a weekend read.
Enjoy, Debbi :)
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