My rating:
add to my books
Loading...
Blessings
Blessings, the bestselling novel by the author of Black and Blue, One True Thing, Object Lessons, and A Short Guide to a Happy Life, begins when, late at night, a teenage couple drives up to the estate owned by Lydia Blessing and leaves a box.
In this instant, the world of the estate called Blessings is changed forever. The story of Skip Cuddy, the Blessings caretaker, who...more
In this instant, the world of the estate called Blessings is changed forever. The story of Skip Cuddy, the Blessings caretaker, who...more
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
December 30th 2008
by Random House Trade Paperbacks
(first published September 17th 2002)
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
6,798)
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
view all 8 comments
a story of unconventional relationships that grow in unlikely places – stories of regret and wishes – stories of improvement – simultaneous intertwining of past and present – challenges some traditional notions and judgments
I decided to read a book by Anna Quindlen after hearing her speak last fall. She's a wonderful speaker and a great journalist. However, based on this book, I don't think that writing fiction is her forte. I very much enjoyed the story in "Blessings," but didn't really enjoy her writing style all that much. As she is telling about future events, her characters reminisce about their past in a way that I found distracting. I do think the story would make a good movie, but can't recommend ...more
Harmonybites
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Harmonybites by:
The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Ultimate Reading List
I really enjoyed this. Quindlen has a strong, clean prose style that skillfully picks the telling details that vividly evoke both setting and character. Blessings is the name of an estate in upstate New York. There are passages that lyrically put before your eye the pond with snapping turtles and leaping trout, the herons, the apple orchard. And the characters are well-drawn too, the two major characters are a study in contrasts. There's eighty-year-old Lydia Blessings, born to wealth and her yo...more
Having read and thoroughly enjoyed “Every Last One” by Anna Quindlen earlier this year, I was keen to investigate her back catalogue and I began this week with “Blessings”, published in 2003.
Blessings is the name of the estate where Lydia Blessing, an elderly widow, leads the life of a semi-recluse with occasional interruptions by her curmudgeonly cook, Nadine and ex-con caretaker, Skip Cuddy. The status quo is broken by the unexpected arrival of an abandoned new-born baby girl, le...more
Blessings is the name of the estate where Lydia Blessing, an elderly widow, leads the life of a semi-recluse with occasional interruptions by her curmudgeonly cook, Nadine and ex-con caretaker, Skip Cuddy. The status quo is broken by the unexpected arrival of an abandoned new-born baby girl, le...more
This book was a selection for my daughter's book club. Let me say straight off that I loved it!
A baby is left by the garage of the local "big house" by a couple of teenagers, and found by the handyman who lives over the garage. A strange complicity develops between him and the house's owner, and two people from opposite sides of the social divide enter into a friendship that reconciles their own pasts.
So now I'm going to talk about the rules it breaks. You get ...more
A baby is left by the garage of the local "big house" by a couple of teenagers, and found by the handyman who lives over the garage. A strange complicity develops between him and the house's owner, and two people from opposite sides of the social divide enter into a friendship that reconciles their own pasts.
So now I'm going to talk about the rules it breaks. You get ...more
The story starts out when two teens drive up to a fancy schmancy estate called "Blessings" and leave a mysterious box.
The newest caretaker, Skip Cutty, discovers the box. When he sees the beautiful baby girl bundled inside he impulsively decides to keep and care for her. Because he's an ex-convict on parole (he's a good guy but was in the wrong place at the wrong time) he knows this is the last thing he should be doing but his heart tells him it is right. So Skip securely str...more
The newest caretaker, Skip Cutty, discovers the box. When he sees the beautiful baby girl bundled inside he impulsively decides to keep and care for her. Because he's an ex-convict on parole (he's a good guy but was in the wrong place at the wrong time) he knows this is the last thing he should be doing but his heart tells him it is right. So Skip securely str...more
Blessings is the third Anna Quindlen novel that I've read and enjoyed. She is such an eloquent writer with accurate descriptions of the silent suffering and happiness that occurs in the human psyche. I enjoyed this story of Lydia Blessing and Skip Cuddy who through the nuturing and love of an abandoned baby girl make an usual "family." Much of the story takes place in a bittersweet remembering that occurs in Lydia's mind as she reviews the last eighty years of her life. The reader is t...more
Blessings is the swankiest house/property around. The old house has been in the Blessing family for as long as anyone can remember; and Skip, fresh out of prison, has found employment there. He also found a baby in a box left outside his apartment over the garage. Skip decides to care for the baby on his own, but is careful not to let Lydia Blessing, his employer, find out about the newborn. Lydia Blessing has lived at Blessings her entire adult life, and now she mainly lives in the past. In her...more
Great characters. Interesting story. I already miss everyone.
I love Anna Quindlen's writing. I've always liked her columns in Newsweek magazine although I don't remember if I've ever read one of her novels. I bought this book at an Oxfam shop only because she wrote it, because, honestly, the story didn't enthuse me that much when I read the back cover. But I was surprised because I really enjoyed it. The two main characters are a young man and an old woman, both of whom live on an estate called Blessings, he as the caretaker and she as the proprietor....more
Original review posted here
Anna Quindlen is one of those authors who holds the power to knock the socks off of me. Every time I go to pick up one of her books I know that, at some point, I’m going to end up in tears – so I have to pace myself accordingly.
Blessings was no different. While it didn’t contain nearly the same amount of tragedy some of Quindlen’s other books have (Yes, Every Last One, I’m looking at you), it still had some heartbreaking moments, but, in...more
There were times when I had a hard time putting this book down. I loved the characters - their quirks and imperfections, but I was also confused at times by the moving back and forth between past and present. It's told in the 3rd person but when the narration goes to the 80 year old woman character, her thoughts weave back and forth between past & present which though realistic, was confusing because I didn't know until I finished that section if it was really happening or something she was re...more
A young man is trying to find himself by working as the groundskeeper at a large estate called "Blessings". He finds a newborn outside his garage one morning and the story evolves into how he tries to keep this baby while hiding it from the very old woman that lives on and owns the estate. It is a beautiful read on the nature of what makes us good, bad or idifferent.
My sister got me this book and i was like... alright, i will give it a try. It started off real slow and confusing for most part. But, somewhere down the melancholic tone, the pace shifted and created magic. I would have to say that reading this book makes you realize that love comes in different forms from different people- the kind they are capable of. It is not a happy ending but it is not something you would feel sad about either. Because, by the time you have reached the ending of the book,...more
A lovely book. Ms Quindlen's writing style is reminiscent of that of one of my favourite authors Rumer Godden. The plot is a framework for character development, and both plot and characters slowly open like a flower. Corny, I know, but hypnotic & beautifully done.
The basic plot is simple: town loser finds abandoned baby & falls in love with baby, cranky rigid old lady who is his employer becomes a part of the conspiracy to keep the baby a secret, and, yes, there is a girl. Around this fra...more
The basic plot is simple: town loser finds abandoned baby & falls in love with baby, cranky rigid old lady who is his employer becomes a part of the conspiracy to keep the baby a secret, and, yes, there is a girl. Around this fra...more
I like this quiet, gentle, sweet book; the two main characters are a bit world-weary, having experienced harshnesses in life such that they don't take good for granted. They don't know each other at the outset of when this book is set; a baby is dropped off and they rebel at first individually, but for both it is a perfect element in their lives. And so far their fears prove unfounded and life is unfolding in its own, sweet way. Reminds me a bit of Margaret Atwood's 'Bean Trees', only that was m...more
When a baby is abandoned at Blessings, a rural country estate, it is up to the ex-con groundskeeper, the crotchety old woman who owns Blessings, and the daughter of the Korean housekeeper and the local garage owner to take care of her. Blessings is a story about the skeletons in our closets, and every mistake helps us to become the people we are today.
I have always enjoyed Anna Quindlen's columns in The New York Times and Newsweek. I once read her described as "the last sane person" and agreed strongly. The novel is not yet profound but enjoyable, particularly for those who enjoy family history, even someone else's.
* * *
Now, having finished the book, I am disappointed. The book begins with promise, but the "family mysteries" are evident early on and the "big reveal" is lacklustre and the conclusion is...more
* * *
Now, having finished the book, I am disappointed. The book begins with promise, but the "family mysteries" are evident early on and the "big reveal" is lacklustre and the conclusion is...more
I don't often give out five stars. This book really covered everything well--plot, character development, great pacing, no mushy/hollywood ending. Add to that that it was less than 230 pages! A great book. (copied review) Late one night, a teenage couple drives up to the big white clapboard home on the Blessing estate and leaves a box. In that instant, the lives of those who live and work there are changed forever. Skip Cuddy, the caretaker, finds a baby girl asleep in that box and decides h...more
I actually enjoyed this book, including the ending. It was an easy read with a back story that was brought out in a believable way throughout the book. I really liked the main characters but felt the weakness of the bookk was that I never really got to know the supporting characters.
This book tells the story of a baby left on the garage steps at the house named Blessings. The house's new caretaker, Skip, finds her and wants to raise her as his own. He hides her from the world until the house's mistress, Lydia, questions why he mows the lawn hunched over. (The baby is in a sling around him, and he's hiding her while mowing. He's too afraid to leave her alone.) Lydia decides to help him raise the baby, despite the fact that she is nearing 80 and hasn't been around a baby...more
A young mother leaves her baby on someone's doorstep, and this book is primarily about the people who take the baby in. This is one of my all time top 10 or 15 reads. She writes very beautifully - lots of her novels are good, but I think this is her best.
Blessings tells the story of Lydia Blessings, an old woman who lives by herself in a large house with her namesake. She has a new gardener/handyman named Skip who lives in an apartment above the garage, and a cantankerous maid named Nadine. One night Skip finds a newborn baby in a box lying on his doorstep. At first he tries to hide her from everyone, but eventually everyone at Blessings knows about the baby. Soon they all begin to see their own lives transformed by the influence of this tiny, i...more
In the middle of the night, a newborn baby girl is left by it's teen parentss at the doorstep of a large country home they believe will be a good place for a girl to grow up. The baby is found the next morning by the estate's caretaker, Skip Cuddy, who decides to keep the baby and raise her as his own. The elderly owner of the estate, Lydia Blessing, learns of his plan and helps him do just that. This is a book about past secrets, past actions and consequences, and how our plans aren't always ...more
I liked the premise of the book, a baby is left abandoned and found by the groundskeeper an ex-con who decides to keep the baby, the crochety old woman of the mansion discovers the baby and a relationship developes between them. That said, I felt like I had to wade through the story at times. The main character is always going back to her past and I found it bothersome. This is one book that I wish they could have all just lived happily ever after but to keep it real, I guess it ended the onl...more
With reminiscences by the two main characters bordering on stream-of-consciousness, this reminded me of Virginia Woolf. Virginia Woolf for dummies, that is, because Quindlen spells everything out for her reader. Anyone would realize by the middle of the book that two of the characters are a clandestine homosexual couple, but Quindlen makes this "reveal" explicit through a bit of dialogue, a photograph, the note on the back of the photograph, a character's internal reaction, and finally...more
This outstanding novel is reminiscent of Richard Russo's Empire Falls, but more intimate. A wealthy but penny-pinching elderly woman hires an ex-con as groundskkeper. He, in turn, finds an abandoned baby at the door of his garage apartment & decides to secretly care for it. Quindlen expertly describes the changes that the characters go through and the changes in the relationships between them, always revealing the wide chasm created by differences in class while humanizing the wealthy, too, as h...more
Very compelling plotline -- young man discovers an abandoned infant and decided to keep her and raise her himself. Interesting characters -- the young man, the old lady who owns the drop-dead, gorgeous property. And yet.
And yet, the young man is too perfect; the old lady too much the "crotchety old lady who goes soft on the young man with the baby". The back story of the old lady is nicely nuanced; her daughter is a great character. Best character of all is the Korean hou...more
And yet, the young man is too perfect; the old lady too much the "crotchety old lady who goes soft on the young man with the baby". The back story of the old lady is nicely nuanced; her daughter is a great character. Best character of all is the Korean hou...more
This book was decent.
Short. Predictable.
What can I say? I needed a 'Q' author for my alphabet challenge?
The WAY Quindlen bounced back and forth from past to present was really difficult to follow -- as a reader, I needed some help here...it was distracting. I found myself either fully engaged in a flashback and then frustrated I was torn from it and back into the present (unexpectedly) or vice versa.
And some of the themes that barely got any atten...more
Short. Predictable.
What can I say? I needed a 'Q' author for my alphabet challenge?
The WAY Quindlen bounced back and forth from past to present was really difficult to follow -- as a reader, I needed some help here...it was distracting. I found myself either fully engaged in a flashback and then frustrated I was torn from it and back into the present (unexpectedly) or vice versa.
And some of the themes that barely got any atten...more
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Anna Quindlen is an American journalist and opinion columnist whose New York Times column, Public and Private, won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1992.
She began her journalism career in 1974 as a reporter with The New York Post. Between 1977 and 1994 she held several posts at The New York Times. She left journalism in 1995 to become a full-time novelist. She currently writes a bi...more
More about Anna Quindlen...
She began her journalism career in 1974 as a reporter with The New York Post. Between 1977 and 1994 she held several posts at The New York Times. She left journalism in 1995 to become a full-time novelist. She currently writes a bi...more
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“Four A.M. and the darkness had a quality of inexorability and menace as though it would never lift, as though, without anyone noticing it, the dawn of the day before had been the beginning of the last light ever in the history of the world.”
—
3 people liked it
More quotes…
