Black and Blue

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Summary: What a page-turner!
Review: This is the first book I've read of Anna Quindlen's - and boy, am I hooked! I started the book on Sunday afternoon, and finished it on Monday morning! The story is compelling, and the characters are like family by the end. It opened my eyes to the true challenges that abused women face - especially those with children.

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Summary: I couldn't sleep after I finished it...
Review: I read this book expecting some typical abused-spouse overcomes melodrama. That is not what it was about. From a literary standpoint, I thought the ending was fabulous. AFter I finished it I laid awake for a while, then got up to check on my own son.

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Summary: FINALLY A GOOD READ
Review: I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR A "CLEAN" SMART AND INTELLIGENT AUTHOR FOR A FEW MONTHS NOW. IN MY SEARCH I READ THROUGH ALOT OF, WITHOUT MENTIONING NAMES, FILTH AND FANTASY, AND GOT VERY DISCOURAGED. BLACK AND BLUE WAS EMOTIONALLY HARD TO READ BUT ANNA QUINDLIN, YOU ARE AN EXCELLENT WRITER. I AM MORE INTERESTED IN WHERE YOU ARE FROM, WHAT SCHOOLS AND NEIGHBORHOOD, ETC. YOU MUST BE FROM A BOROUGH!! THE STORY IS OF COURSE FAMILIAR, I GREW UP WITH IT AND MARRIED IT, BUT UNLIKE MY MOTHER I HAVE STOPPED IT. I JUST WISH FRANNIE STILL HAD ROBERT AND SHE SHOULD HAVE NEVER CONSIDERED AN ABORTION, HE WON TWICE. THATS ALL IT COMES DOWN TO, THE BOTTOM LINE..THE KIDS.

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Summary: Opened my eyes to the truth!
Review: A very moving and realistic portrayal of the needs of an abused woman and family. This story has motivated me to give financially to women's protective services/charities.

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Summary: nail bitting to the bitter end
Review: I was skeptical about reading "Black and Blue", but after the first chapter I couln't put the book down. It is a wonderfully written book, I highly recommend it!!!!! Every women should read it, whether their faced with abuse or not.

Rating:
Summary: WONDERFUL READ
Review: Beautiful depiction of a tragic life - my heart broke at the end - I look at my children differently since finishing the book - I feel so sorry for those who can't change their lives with abusive spouses. A must read if you are interested in the plight of abused women.

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Summary: Another typical Oprah pick
Review: More abuse, more difficult situations, more broken families, I think the bookclub should move on. Enough of these depressing stories that don't happen to a majority of the readers...let's read something nice for a change!

Rating:
Summary: A page turner!!!
Review: An adrenaline pumper!! I had to stop myself several times from flipping to the end to know the outcome. I found it to be a very true-to-life account.

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Summary: ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF 1998
Review: I live in Okinawa Japan, never heard of Anna Quindlen. I am american living on a military base and in one of our news papers had a review of this book so of course living to read I bought it. This book hit home in some many aspects. It was just like being there in Fran's shoes. It really shows how something that you thought could never happen to you can. But at the same time it shows there is light at the end of the tunnel. This is a must read book for every women.

Rating:
Summary: An all too true rendering of the abuse of women!
Review: Anna Quindlen does it again as she brings you right into the lives of Fran and her family. She shows the same, I have been through it quality, in this novel as she did in "One True Thing." Unfortunately this subject matter is so personal to so many of us that this book brings back some unwanted memories. I can remember being the same age as Fran and meeting an older guy with an engaging personality. Fortunately for me I chose to get out of the abusive relationship before marriage or children. While reading the descriptions of mental and physical abuse I felt I could have interchanged names, for I was also a victim of the same crimes. Reading this novel made me feel lucky that I only suffered one rape and a few shoves and threatening raised fists. Anna Quindlen does an exceptional job of putting us right in the room with Fran and Bobby, you would think that Anna had lived through something like this. I can not understand how some of the other reviewers could not give credence to this compelling book; I wonder if these people live in the real world where this problem is all too prevalent. I think her choice to tell this tale in first person was an excellent one for you got to see what she had to go through and how hard it was for her to uproot herself and her son. Quindlen does give us the reasons for Bobby's abuse, he is jealous that his wife makes more money and he is jealous of anyone else who is close to her, like her sister and co-worker. There is one reader in particular that I would like to address, [e-mail], you go on a extremely long diatribe about the shortcomings of this book and you even called it taudry (the spelling is tawdry by the way). If you found the novel so unappealing then why did you finish reading it? Fran did change and she recognized that she did deserve a great guy like Mike; she did not use him it just took her a while to understand and to heal. Fran made many sacrifices to escape her brutal homelife and in the end she made the ultimate one, she gave up her son to the monster that was his father. The book indeed did have a plot line and those of us who live in the real world and know how horrible domestic violence is probably understood it. The use of flashbacks was a wonderful way to convey the memories certain events brought on. This was a constant page turner for me, and when I lent it to a friend, she called me in tears for she had lived that life in her first marriage. This friend says that I have now gotten her hooked on Anna Quindlen's novels where she once read Danielle Steele (did you notice the e on the end of Steele Wends?). There is no similarity between Quindlen and Steele for the former deals with real life and the latter deals with fantasy. I have all of Quindlen's books and I anxiously await her next endeavor please make it sooner rather than later Anna.