Blessings

This is not the type of book to read through quickly. Though only 226 pages in length it tells a story of 80 years. Like Quindlen's "Black and Blue" it will make you cry, but crying seems to feel so good when reading a book this momentous. Another reviewer spoke of unanswered questions. I would implore anyone who reads this book to do so slowly over a week or two in order to process the huge amount of information that is given in each paragraph. All the answers are there. Like most of my favorite books this one can best be summed up in one word, bittersweet.

Blessings is not only well-crafted technically, but when I finished the book, I couldn't stop wondering about Skip and his future. I couldn't help myself from wondering about how Lydia's past had left her in the locked in the past. Then I examined my own life to make sure I'm moving forward. When a book makes me want to change my life, I find it worth recommending to others. As I took another look at Blessings in order to write the review, I ended up re-reading nearly all of it in a long evening. And although, it reads quickly, thoughts it of linger with me for a very long time. Also recommended: Three Junes, Atonement, The Losers' Club by Richard Perez

This is a lovely, lyrical book about family, change, and our need for one another. It's the first book by Anna Quindlen I've read, and she is definitely added to my "Favorite Authors List."I appreciate her insight and wisdom into the complex family bonds that sometimes extend to those outside our family circle. Thoroughly enjoyable and worth your time.

This is such a beautiful story. I could not put this book down so I stayed up and read it from cover to cover. The story begins with a baby being abandoned late one night by a teenage girl and the father of the baby. The baby is dressed in a flannel shirt with a hair clip on its umbilical cord and left by the garage in a cardboard box. The box is then found by Skip, a house hand. Skip has never been around children much less a baby. He takes the newborn in as his own and the story begins. He becomes attached to the baby and raises it as his own... all the while keeping it a secret. We are then swept along as Skip learns to care for the baby and ends up dedicating his life to the baby. (I don't want to give up to much information on the baby.)The name of the estate where the baby is left is called "Blessings" ... owned by an eighty-year-old wealthy woman named Lydia Blessings. As the story continues we learn the secrets of Lydia Blessings and her family ... AND, there are many secrets! The characters are richly written ... you will find yourself bonding with many of them as you learn their secrets. BUT, be prepared for some tears ... keep the Kleenex close at hand. There are many "BLESSINGS" in this story. You will not be disappointed with this novel. It is a must read.

In this book Anna Quindlen delivers a lovely story of strength, support, and love. Late one night, a teenaged couple abandons their newborn baby at the garage door of "Blessings", an estate inhabited by the elderly Lydia Blessing and her young handyman, Skip Cuddy.....and thus set off a chain of events that will propel both of these characters on a journey of discovery. Skip, who lives over the garage and finds the foundling, will discover unexpected depths of feelings for this little one, whom he names Faith. He also discovers the nurture of which he is capable--and what the tribulations of fatherhood can be. This baby gives Skip's life a structure and purpose that it never had before. Lydia discovers that perhaps doing what is expected is not always the "good" thing to do....and questions what the "right" thing to do really is. She has lived in the past for so long, thinking about her family's many secrets, but this baby brings her into the present with a welcome jolt.Despite trying to keep Faith's presence a secret, Lydia finds out that Skip has taken on the role of "father" to this baby, and the three of them become an unlikely sort of family. Quindlen shows us how a family is not necessarily comprised of those related by blood, but can be a unit made up of people who need, support, and care for each other. Together, Skip and Lydia find unexpected joy in Faith and find resources within themselves of which they were unaware. These two characters, of such different backgrounds and ages, also allow the author to tell the same story in two very different ways.Quindlen has written a richly descriptive and moving novel, one of redemption and personal growth, and about doing the right thing. Her observational skills, so evident in the columns she has written over the years, make us understand and care about these characters, their pasts, and how their lives affect others.I loved the double meaning of the title,"Blessings"...for not only was it the name of a house, but blessings were what these characters bestowed on each other.A wonderful reading experience that this reader will remember with great pleasure.