3.5

I first read Anna Quindlen as a periodic columnist in Newsweek. I looked forward to her progressive writing. So when I saw Black and Blue on the used $2.95 shelf I thought I would give it a try. The topic, battered women, is one that I am familiar with as a result of my occasional dips into social work.

Considering the topic, I thought that the book was amazingly low key for the first half. I was thinking that I liked Quindlen better as a back page columnist than as the author of what she termed a novel. The book revolved around a woman who, along with her young son, goes into the "Witness" Protection Program for battered women. She is given a new identity and home to escape her abusive husband. I had never heard of this kind of service: they gave her fake ID, found her a job, and paid her rent and phone bill. Since I was scratching my head about this, wondering how common this is, and how likely. I am familiar with safe houses and other efforts to "hide" the victim from the abuser. I had heard of people who moved long distances and changed their identity. But I had never heard of an organization that provides these protective services. Since I had my doubts, I went to my source for all questions: Google. No luck so far but not giving up. The closest I've found so far: "The children would have to leave their school, she would have to leave all her friends and neighbors behind, etc. For some women it would be like being in the Witness Protection program--she could never have any contact with her old life."
http://www.letswrap.com/dvinfo/whysta...
Anyone have any information about this kind of a service?

In this book, the abused woman tells her own story. While it is put out as fiction, this book has a ring of truth as far as it explores the psychology and sociology of spouse abuse. The rant of the husband when he tracks her down in spite of her new name and new state is incredibly chilling and terrifying. The emotions at the end of the book brought tears to my eyes. For as low key as I found the first half, the second half was compelling and riveting.

This could have been so much better. This story mixes the present situation with the past, in the same paragraphs. Often the past situation has little or nothing to do with the present situation. It's a mess.
As a story, this is weak. Nothing happens until the end. There's endless dull conversation, endless ordinary days. No tension, no development, nothing.
This is a weak novel.

Μια συγκλονιστική μαρτυρία για την κακοποίηση των γυναικών. Αξίζει να διαβαστεί, και μπορεί να διαβαστεί μονοκοπανιά.

This book would have been a three for me, but the ending made it a four. Damn sad ending but still not the way I thought things would go. I always give an author kudos when that happens because there are plenty of times I can see the ending coming a mile away.

Kept my interest mostly

I liked this book all right. I found it to be predictable and your typical domestic abuse story. It was an easy read to me and did hold my interest.

This was not a cheery book, but spousal abuse is not a happy subject. Even though it took Fran a long time to finally break away from her husband, I admired her for being strong and doing what she needed to do for her son. The author did a good job of making me feel Fran/Beth's emotions. I read a few reviews where the readers didn't like the ending, because it wasn't happy. Even though the ending was hard to read and made me very sad, I appreciated that the author didn't end it the way a book like this typically would have.

I continue my love affair with Anna Quindlen. I read one review of this novel in which the reviewer was unbelieving of the character's weaknesses and found that she had learned nothing from her experiences. I couldn't disagree more. I found the portrayal of a woman of above average intelligence who is successful and admired in her profession, but who acquiesces to her husband's repeated bodily and emotional abuse very realistic. The strength of this story is to show the reader that almost anyone could get herself into this situation without knowing how to escape it. For Frannie, having a son is the tipping point, both for staying in the marriage and, then, for ultimately leaving it. However stupid you may think she is, and I did at some points think she was, it was impossible to say what I would do in a similar situation. Ms. Quindlen does a terrific job of putting the reader into Frannie's shoes.

3 1/2 stars rounded up

Anna Quindlen paints a heart-wrenching picture of an abusive relationship and a mom who only wants the best for her child. I thoroughly enjoyed Quindlen's beautiful writing style and found myself very drawn in from the beginning. About halfway through I did have a hard time pressing on hence the 3 & 1/2 stars. Otherwise this would have EASILY been a 4 star book.

I will admit, it did have me in tears while reading it on my flight. Sorry to the lovely gentleman next to me. This one hit really close to home because my mom was in an abusive relationship before marrying my dad so reading into the mind of a woman going through that was incredibly moving.

As mentioned before, even though the middle portion of the book was a little slow for me, the ending did redeem it. While I saw something of that sort coming, my heart broke when it did happen. Unfortunately, IRL similar situations don't seem to have nice happy endings so I thought the ending made it very real.

Excited to give her other works a try!

Oh, this book!

Black and Blue opens with this sentence: "The first time my husband hit me I was nineteen years old." Fran's husband is still abusing her. But, as Quindlen noted in an interview, this isn't a novel about domestic violence - it's a novel about identity.

It also is a novel published in 1998. It's amazing - and heartbreaking - that, with the exception of innovations in technology (e.g., smartphones and personal computers), it felt like this book could have been published yesterday. I was inclined to give it four stars, but a) I'm still emotional just thinking about the characters and b) I can't think of anything it should have done differently, so, five stars it is.

Part of the power of this book is that it's not a dramatic tearjerker. It's a quiet book that still made me feel so deeply. Just wow.

CW for domestic abuse and rape. Help is available at thehotline.org and 1−800−799−SAFE (advocates are online at that website for one-on-one chat)

What a book. Another thriller that really wasn't meant to be that way. It is a story of obsession and control and misplaced love. Another grown up book for those who aren't necessarily in search of a happy ending, but want to be drawn in by a great story.

I read Black and Blue because I loved another Anna Quindlen book(Every Last One) and because the storyline sounded exciting, even scary: what happens when your husband abuses you but you can't call the police because he IS the police? I pictured a suspenseful, "Sleeping with the Enemy" type experience. Instead, Black and Blue is a much more introspective look at the complexities of love, parenting, anger, and independence. Fran and her son escape her dangerous husband, disappearing completely from everything and everyone familiar. Quindlen weaves a suspenseful thread through the book -- we wonder along with Frannie/Beth when her husband is going to find her. In between, however, the plot drags. Quindlen's supporting characters are simplistic -- the bad guys are bad and the good guys are good -- always. Not so with the main characters. Frannie/Beth and her husband, Bobby, are shown as loving, hateful, selfish, tender, and strong. Fran is not always likeable -- at least not in her marriage -- and I was glad for that. Did she deserve the abuse? Of course not. No one thinks that. Not me and certainly not Quindlen. But the scenes from her troubled marriage ring much truer than the stereotypical portrayal of the wife who is always sweet, light, and loving and the husband who is pure evil. I found it especially interesting that Bobby never abuses their son, Robert. I don't know if that's typical of real-life domestic violence situations, but it added a welcome complexity to the relationship between Fran and Robert, not to mention between Robert and Bobby. Be warned, while there are sweet moments, this is not an upbeat read. I find myself wishing Quindlen were less committed to being realistic and more committed to letting her characters -- and her readers -- find a happy ending.