Black and Blue

Rating:
Summary: A Lifetime Movie in book form
Review: Fran Benedetto has been married to a NYC cop for many years. Together they have a son together. And that's the only reason she claims she stays with her husband Bobby...because he beats her horribly. After one beating, she has decided she has had enough and with the help of a woman she met at her nursing job, she flees to Florida with her ten year old. She tries to start a new life, but she's always waiting for Bobby to find her. And that's what kept me reading. It wasn't exactly a great work of literature or anything, but it was a quick disposable read touching on a serious topic.

Rating:
Summary: Quindlen is right on point!
Review: Fran escapes a life with Bobby - her once-loving husband who began physically abusing Fran until she was so hurt that she decided it wasn't fair for her, and her son, Robert, to stay in Brooklyn. She leaves to set up a new life in florida provided by Patty Bancroft, who helps battered women using her very explicit insturctions of "dos" and "dont's" of what one does as they create a new identity. Fran Benedetto becomes Beth Crenshaw, and her son is Robert Chrenshaw. As the story unfolds softly, the reader is taken in by the people she meets and their family tragedies, which we all deal with at some point in our lives and "Fran" (or Beth) begins to see she is not the only one with heartbreaking hidden secrets. Each day Beth Creshnaw lives is like walking on eggshells, and the reader turns the pages quickly to see if anything will break as she works to reclaim her life.

Rating:
Summary: An interesting story
Review: What!I will never allow my husband to beat me up.
Frances benedetto, thirthy-six years old woman, ran away just to avoid her husband.She forgets about her nursing diploma to work as a home health aid.This is terrible!she even changes her name, her son name.Beth, the new person, thinks she could have her peace of mind,start her new life.However she has to face her son who asking her for his dad.
I am so happy to read sarah Quindlen's book and it will not be the last time.

Rating:
Summary: domestic violence from a putlizer prize author
Review: this is a book written by a Pulizer prize winning journalist..translation: her writing is good of course, but you can tell she has not lived domestic violence, nor worked closely with DV programs; so is you want a fictional story of abuse with good writing, this is good. If you want a more realistic story with more emotional depth (not journalistic) from the characters, this is not it. I bought it immediately when it first came out years ago, and was dissapointed with the domestic violence content. I must still give it four stars for writing (3 1/2 isn't available

Rating:
Summary: What a page turner
Review: What a page turner. I stayed up late reading like I haven't done in a while. Anne Quindlen knows how to tell a story.

Fran, the main character, is a battered woman. This is a term she hates, we learn later on. The story begins with her escape. She's had it, the last beating was too much, and she is escaping her husband with the help of a group that places women undercover. She is taking her son, and ends up in Central Florida. Fran's feelings are perfectly articulated. She writes about her ambivalence for her husband, who happens to be a NYC cop. She also writes about the dingy apartment, her sense of loss, the daily details that made (and make) her life miserable. Piece by piece she starts rebuilding her life in Florida. She makes friends, gets a job as a nurse's aide (she was an RN before), and takes it one day at a time. In the process, even though there is no complete healing, she learns a few things about herself and her son. 

The cast of characters is terrific. There's Cindy, Fran's first friend in Florida. Although she is a Floridian, she is the archetype of a Californian bimbette. But there's tremendous depth to Cindy, and I love the way this is revealed to the reader, little by little. Mrs. Leavitt is a key character, providing perspective and resignation achieved not just by her old age, but also by her terrible past. I did not fall for Mike, the same way Fran didn't. Above all, I enjoyed Fran, with her beautiful imperfections.

I couldn't wait to get to the ending of the book. There is a thriller-like feel to the story, because you know the cop husband is looking for them, and it's not going to be pretty once he finds Fran. The end surprised me and left me a little sad, but hopeful. Time goes by, and children grow up.