Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1178027 in Books
• Published on: 2000-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Margaret Forster
...a novel at once tender and taut, full of insight, yet with a darkness at its centre

Elizabeth Jane Howard
Black and Blue is a worthy successor to her earlier work: I loved it.

About the Author
Anna Quindlen is the author of three bestselling novels, Object Lessons, One True Thing and Black and Blue, and three non-fiction books, Living Out Loud, Thinking Out Loud and A Short Guide to a Happy Life. Her New York Times column 'Public and Private' won a Pulitzer Prize in 1992. She is currently a columnist for Newsweek and lives with her husband and children in New York.

Customer Reviews

An ending that leaves you feeling disappointed
I've read a few of Oprah's selections and I was really looking forward to reading this one. However, I did feel a bit let down, particularly by the ending. I feel that the final section could have been explored a lot more. In my opinion it ends too abruptly.

A positive aspect of this book is that it shows how difficult it is for a woman to break free of her violent husband, and the reality that even when she is free, he still has some kind of hold on her, he's constantly in her mind.

Overall I think the author tackled a difficult subject very well, the emotive prose helps us to relate to the main character Fran (Beth), who is living a nightmare. The difficulties that both her and her son, Robert, must endure in their new lifestyles in Florida, so very different to the one they led in New York, for him that he cant be with his father, and for her the fear that her husband will find them, which inevitably does happen.

Black and Blue is well written, and it does touch you, however as I mentioned above the ending was cut short, and I was left feeling a little disappointed.

A very moving and real portrait.
This is the first book I have read by Anna Quindlen, recommended to me by a friend. I found it very easy to read however in no way a simple story. The portrayal of the main character's feelings and fears is spot-on and you are following her every emotion with empathy and interest. As a reader you feel you have been given a valuable insight into a very private world, normally kept behind closed doors. Very moving, almost to the point of tears. I thoroughly recommend it.

Brilliant. You will get jittery with her!
I honestly could not put this book down. YOu start to panic with her and are desperate to know what happens at the end. The end was quite unexpected - you usually expect a good ending, which this was with a twist.

I loved it.