Black and Blue (Oprah's Book Club)

Fran Benedetto, a nurse who lives in NYC and seems to be happily married to her husband Bobby but she is a victim of Domestic Violence. The book deals more with Fran trying to escape her situation by going underground and assuming a new identity with her son Robert but its extremely hard to run away from a police officer. I was able to feel the suspense on every page wondering if or when her husband would catch up to her.

Anna Quindlen does an excellent job describing each and every emotion that Fran must have been feeling and this book gave me a new understanding of Spousal Abuse. This book is a real pageturner and it is one I would highly recommend and I would also highly recommend One True Thing also written by Ms. Quindlen.


You can run, but can you hide?   April 18, 2000
allan bachman (austin, tx)
35 out of 41 found this review helpful

[Warning: a review below by "Drea248" unwittingly divulges a crucial element in the story line. Though a positive review, if you plan on reading this book, avoid the review.]

Anna Quindlan's latest work of fiction "Black and Blue" has the potential to do what few so called "women's books" are able to accomplish, have an intrinsic appeal which serves both genders. This is a story with the ability to be accessible on many levels and that is one of its strengths.

This is a book about women, about children, about men, about the building up and breaking down of relationships, about strength and weakness, about truth, about secrets, about courage, and about trust. It is enlightening, entertaining, and exciting; once started it will be difficult to put down. This is not an easy book to read or forget.

The issues raised, some resolved some not, remind us of the frailties and shortcomings we experience in our own lives. Hopefully the main topic is one with which many are personally unfamiliar. The description of the effort involved to achieve escape velocity from the gravitational pull of an old life is simultaneously interesting and frightening. But can you really escape?

This is the focal point of the story. The day-to-day events of the principal characters as they establish their new lives is beautifully and touchingly developed in every way, you almost forget how the main characters arrived where they are. Present experiences are cleverly woven with past memories throughout the narrative. However, this is a story that also has all of the underlying tension and menace of a good suspense novel, neither of which are ever very far from the surface.


Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen   January 20, 2000
Nancy F. Ellison
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

This was a great book that I had a hard time putting down....it was also VERY depressing because it brings you to a reality that these violent domestic circumstances really exist and how it affects the innocent children. I strongly urge you to read it!


A Dramatic and Powerful Novel!   December 7, 1999
Jon Strutt (West Des Moines, Iowa)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

After reading this novel I discovered the severity of Domestic abuse and the effect it has on the family. Anna Quindlen used extremely vivid detail in describing the way that Fran Benedetto's husband Bobby beats her. Quindlen continusly is using the most vivid detail in all of her memories of her husband. This book is similiar to most books that I have read in the way that this author goes deep into the life of the characters and portrays their life in detail for all to understand. This topic of domestic abuse is a common topic especailly in this day and age. Too many couples are getting involved in abuse, Anna Quindlen realizes this and shows one woman who escaped the horror and moved her son to Florida under protection. The trials that mother and son go through are very challenging. Suspense is the key to this novel, the fear of Bobby Bendetto finding them and what he would do, even in her memories there is suspense because the detail is so real, "...after he'd grabbed me by the hair, and another time he's pushed me down, and another time, and another." The voice of the character is very strong, Quindlen portrays Fran Bendetto as a weak woman in the beginning and then her courage and strength is built up and by the end she is fearless and capable of anything. I liked this because it showed strong character and showed that Bobby didn't take everything away from her when he beat her. This story is very realistic, it's as I have mentioned, vivid. This makes the novel more powerful and leaves the reader feeling the impact of the abuse. This novel shows the inner spirit in the characters as they grow and change making this a well rounded book for all to enjoy. There is a setting change and is not only a physical relocation but and emotional relocation, this adds to the emotions felt by the characters and even the author's thoughts and feelings are revealed. This novel may be a little too emotional or feeling orientned for some readers. Overall this is an excellent novel.


Black and Blue was close to true   March 6, 1999
12 out of 13 found this review helpful

Wives who are battered, or girl friends may relate very well to the character Beth in this book. She was very typical of the "if I am just better, my husband won't beat me anymore" personality. This book is a sad commentary on personl relationships and how we don't take care of ourselves very well. In this book, it is heart breaking to see a cop, a person who should uphold the law, abusing it. Not that it isn't common place. It is a well-known fact that men and even women who have high stress jobs, become batterers, and abuse alcohol or controlled substances. The really sad thing is how the the kid gets stuck taking side. Often in domestic violence, there are no winners, only losers. It is the women who usely loose the most. I am angry and disgusted by domestic violence, but as a woman, I believe given the right circumstances or the worst kind of stress, I could probably dish out battery if the shoe were on the other foot. Anna Quindlen is an easy author to read. She writes excellent dispriptions of places. This subject matter or this book should be rated R for violence. This novel also would most certainly trigger uncomfortable feelings in one who has been in an abusive relationship, or who has been abused.