Blessings

De: Anna Quindlen

Narrado por: Joan Allen

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 he wants to keep the child . . . while Lydia Blessing, the matriarch of the estate, for her own reasons, agrees to help him. Blessings explores how the secrets of the past affect decisions and lives in the present; what makes a person or a life legitimate or illegitimate and who decides; and the unique resources people find in themselves and in a community. This is a powerful novel of love, redemption, and personal change by the Pulitzer Prize–winning writer about whom The Washington Post Book World said, “Quindlen knows that all the things we ever will be can be found in some forgotten fragment of family.”©2002 Anna Quindlen; (P)2002 Random House Inc., Random House Audio, a Division of Random House Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“A polished gem of a novel . . . lovingly crafted, beautifully written.”
—The Miami Herald

“A WELL-TOLD STORY OF LOVE AND REDEMPTION.”
—The Washington Post Book World

“[A] RICHLY IMAGINED NOVEL OF THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF LOVE.”
—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“EARNEST, DETAILED, AND COMFORTING . . . [Quindlen] delivers . . . on the promise of her title.”
—Los Angeles Times

“Anna Quindlen is America’s Resident Sane Person. She has what Joyce called the common touch, the ability to speak to many people about what’s on their minds before they have the vaguest idea what’s on their minds.”
—The New York Times

“A well–told story of love and redemption, one that is not based on the passion of a man for a woman but on the affection and understanding that develops between people of very different backgrounds who are brought together by a baby named Faith and a house called Blessings.”
—The Washington Post Book World

“Quindlen . . . is as concerned with the evolution of her characters as she is with the resolution of their story. . . . Quindlen’s moving and gently humorous depiction of her characters’ transformation is thoroughly persuasive. . . . [Her] immense sympathy for her characters remains intact, but her fidelity to certain truths is paramount.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“[Quindlen] treats her protagonists and their hardships with such tenderness it’s impossible not to grow fond of them.”
—Entertainment Weekly

“IMMENSELY APPEALING . . .
Quindlen’s fine-tuned ear for the class distinctions of speech results in convincing dialogue. Evoking a bygone patrician world, she endows Blessings with an almost magical aura. . . . The narrative is old-fashioned in a positive way, telling a dramatic story through characters who develop and change, and testifying to the triumph of human decency when love is permitted to grow and flourish. . . . [A] feel-good novel, a book that will appeal to the entire family.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Quindlen finds a wealth of material in the juxtaposition of two very different lives, moving between lush descriptions of a faille dress in a Park Avenue club library and the incongruous smell of baby wipes in a dive bar. These satisfying details heighten the reader’s emotional stake in Skip and Lydia’s subtly drawn relationship.”
—Vogue

“Readers . . . will be rewarded by a story they cannot put down.”
—BookPage

A terrific listen

Rich characters are exquisitely brought to life by actress Joan Allen; a very enjoyable listen. Neither too heavy nor too lite.

Luminous Descriptions and Wonderful Reading

I been reflecting for several days about Blessings. Was it the excellent reader I enjoyed so much, or the insight on a life lived in a particular time, a particular style? I've pondered the remaining scent of an old house occupied by a woman at the end of her life - a house and grounds filled with memories and natural beauty. The story of this place and the story of how people, without regard to age, can learn and discover inner truths will linger in my mind. I savored Blessings, and enjoy the lingering thoughts of it, like the dust motes disturbed in the Blessings attic, and like the echo of the wildlife at the Blessings pond.

Unique and touching

Maybe partly due to the fact that I am currently a full-time dad, I found this novel especially touching... But in any case I think it is a great story and a wonderful audiobook.

Just Okay

This was an interesting story but I found that it lacked depth and the ending left me unsatisfied. I thought that Joan Allen did a great job of narrating and I did like the characters. I would recommend this story to someone who is looking for an interesting story that you don't have think too hard about.

Nice Blessings

Although this book was a little slow, I did enjoy it. The story was interesting and the descriptions were beautiful. Enjoyed the narrator also. It was just a little slow with all of the memories of the past. I guess I was a little more interested in the present.