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What Members Thought

Marty
Feb 06, 2025 rated it really liked it
I loved the book and the story line. My only problem, and it's just me, I wanted a different ending. But as we know life doesn't end up like a fairy tale. ...more
Gaijinmama
Aug 04, 2009 rated it really liked it
Shelves: fiction
A fast, lovely, heartwarming read. Quindlen has a journalist's eye and captures small-town America in brilliant, spot-on detail. The characters are all believable and compelling. I especially liked Nadine, the grumpy Korean housekeeper with a mysterious scar on her face. Clearly, the scar represents her traumatic past which she won't talk about, but is impossible to fully escape, erase, or ignore. The ending wasn't happy Hollywood. Instead it was believable. I won't spoil it here but let's just ...more
Lisa (Harmonybites)
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
Cat
Jan 27, 2019 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
I really enjoyed this book. The ending left me feeling restless, maybe because we have been conditioned by Hollywood and the like into expecting that everything should work out with no loose ends, but life is not like that, is it? I enjoyed Lydia Blessings outlook on things, while she might seem severe I also appreciate order in things and so can relate to her feelings that the correct and proper way of doing things was being lost through the decades. Interesting to notice that about myself. I f ...more
MJ
Mar 07, 2008 rated it really liked it
Skip Cuddy works as caretaker at Blessing were everyday is similar to the day before. But Skip does not mind he likes the routine and working out doors. Then one morning on his way to grind coffee beans for Mrs. Blessings he finds an abaondened box with a newborn baby inside. Not trusting the authorities skip decides to keep the baby a secret and raise her himself. But you can not keep a baby a secret for long and soon Mrs. Blessing is helping him along with the housekeepers daughter Jennifer. S ...more
EJ Johnson
Apr 19, 2008 rated it did not like it
I was very disappointed in this book. All the people in it are sad people. The only true survivor was Jennifer Foster. I thought the author was smart enough to let us know someone was foul without using foul offensive language but no, she stooped to the standard low level. Then when she threw in the obligatory homosexuals, I was really disgusted. Much about the book was good and it could have been much better.
Elhara
Jan 27, 2010 rated it really liked it
I really liked this one and looked forward to the time spent reading it. I was eager to find how what would happen next in the story as it progressed. Although a little exaggerated it's a story that is feasible. The 2 main characters were well defined with just enough information for the reader to know who they were and their importance.
...more
Joanie
Sep 17, 2007 rated it liked it
A man who is working as a caretaker for a grouchy old woman finds a baby and takes her in, keeping it a secret from the woman until she finds out and eventually helps him. The man is sweet with the baby and does a good job with her but of course there has to be a conflict, it can't just end there. Not bad, but not great. ...more
Jamie
Nov 13, 2007 rated it liked it
Connie
Feb 08, 2008 rated it liked it
Penny Evans
Jun 19, 2008 rated it really liked it
Jill
Jun 24, 2008 rated it really liked it
Amy
Jul 15, 2008 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
K
Dec 17, 2008 marked it as to-read
Tara Lynn
Feb 28, 2009 rated it it was amazing
Flora
Apr 28, 2009 rated it it was amazing
Bradeleine Lowe
Jul 24, 2009 rated it liked it
Shelves: fiction
Nicole
Sep 09, 2010 marked it as to-read
Melissa
Oct 09, 2010 marked it as to-read
Mo
Jan 07, 2013 rated it really liked it
Shelves: contemporary
Maggie
Jun 24, 2014 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
LaWane
Dec 19, 2021 rated it liked it
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