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- Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,190
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Still Life with Bread Crumbs begins with an imagined gunshot and ends with a new tin roof. Between the two is a wry and knowing portrait of Rebecca Winter, a photographer whose work made her an unlikely heroine for many women. Her career is now descendent, her bank balance shaky, and she has fled the city for the middle of nowhere. There she discovers, in a tree stand with a roofer named Jim Bates, that what she sees through a camera lens is not all there is to life.
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In this irresistible memoir, the New York Times best-selling author and winner of the Pulitzer Prize Anna Quindlen writes about looking back and ahead - and celebrating it all - as she considers marriage, girlfriends, our mothers, faith, loss, all the stuff in our closets, and more. Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake is filled with the sharp insights and revealing observations that have long confirmed Quindlen’s status as America’s laureate of real life.
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Worth a listen!
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A young woman sits in jail, accused of the mercy killing of her dying mother. She didn't do it, but she thinks she knows who did. In the last months of her life, Ellen Gulden's mother revealed startling secrets that challenged everything Ellen believed about her family. Now, in jail, Ellen believes those secrets will tell her who had the courage to end her mother's suffering.
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Danger!
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When 19-year-old Fran married Bobby Benedetto, she never dreamed that she would find herself in an abusive relationship. Every time her New York City policeman husband hit her, she would think of convincing reasons to stay. Now, with her 10-year-old son in tow, she is running for her life.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Another Quindlen Jewel
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Alternate Side
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Some days Nora Nolan thinks that she and her husband, Charlie, lead a charmed life - except when there’s a crisis at work, a leak in the roof at home, or a problem with their twins at college. And why not? New York City was once Nora’s dream destination, and her clannish dead-end block has become a safe harbor, a tranquil village amid the urban craziness. Then one morning she returns from her run to discover that a terrible incident has shaken the neighborhood, and the fault lines begin to open: on the block, at her job, especially in her marriage.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Skip This One
- By BostonMommy on 04-18-18
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Miller's Valley
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 920
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As a young girl in Miller's Valley, an ordinary farming town that may be facing its final days, Mimi is observing adults, selling corn, growing up and changing, and watching the world around her change, too. As the years go by, the unthinkable starts to seem inevitable. Anna Quindlen's novel takes us through the changing eras of Mimi and her family, as secrets are revealed, and the heartbreaks of growing up and falling in love with the wrong man are overcome.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Quietly engaging
- By Taryn on 01-07-17
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Still Life with Bread Crumbs
- A Novel
- By: Anna Quindlen
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,190
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,057
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Still Life with Bread Crumbs begins with an imagined gunshot and ends with a new tin roof. Between the two is a wry and knowing portrait of Rebecca Winter, a photographer whose work made her an unlikely heroine for many women. Her career is now descendent, her bank balance shaky, and she has fled the city for the middle of nowhere. There she discovers, in a tree stand with a roofer named Jim Bates, that what she sees through a camera lens is not all there is to life.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 456
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3 out of 5 stars
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Worth a listen!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 439
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5 out of 5 stars
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Danger!
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Black and Blue
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- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 223
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 175
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Story4 out of 5 stars 175
When 19-year-old Fran married Bobby Benedetto, she never dreamed that she would find herself in an abusive relationship. Every time her New York City policeman husband hit her, she would think of convincing reasons to stay. Now, with her 10-year-old son in tow, she is running for her life.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Another Quindlen Jewel
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Alternate Side
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 513
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 482
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Some days Nora Nolan thinks that she and her husband, Charlie, lead a charmed life - except when there’s a crisis at work, a leak in the roof at home, or a problem with their twins at college. And why not? New York City was once Nora’s dream destination, and her clannish dead-end block has become a safe harbor, a tranquil village amid the urban craziness. Then one morning she returns from her run to discover that a terrible incident has shaken the neighborhood, and the fault lines begin to open: on the block, at her job, especially in her marriage.
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Skip This One
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4 out of 5 stars
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Quietly engaging
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In this breathtaking and beautiful novel, the #1 New York Times best-selling author Anna Quindlen creates an unforgettable portrait of a mother, a father, a family, and the explosive, violent consequences of what seem like inconsequential actions.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Almost Unbearably Sad, Completely Wonderful
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Rise and Shine
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It's Monday morning when Meghan Fitzmaurice blows her perfect life to bits. The host of Rise and Shine, the country's highest-rated morning talk show, Meghan cuts to a commercial break, but not before she mutters two forbidden words into her open mike. It's the end of an era, not only for Meghan, a household face who is not equipped to deal with disgrace, but for her younger sister Bridget, a social worker in the Bronx who has always lived in Meghan's long shadow.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Don't waste your time or credit
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Object Lessons
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8
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It is the 1960s, in suburban New York City. Maggie and her family, are in the thrall of her powerful grandfather Jack Scanlan. In the summer of her twelfth year, Maggie is desperately trying to master the object lessons her grandfather fills her head with. But there is too much going on to concentrate. Everything at home is in upheaval, her grandfather is changing, and Maggie is unsure if what she wants is worth having....
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4 out of 5 stars
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Poignant story of life
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Mother, mother-in-law, grandmother - the Pulitzer-winning columnist and #1 bestselling author reflects on the roles we play throughout our lives, sharing personal stories and advice on the special joys and complexities of middle age. Before blogs even existed, Anna Quindlen became a go-to writer on the joys and challenges of family, motherhood, and modern life, in her nationally syndicated column. Now she’s taking the next step and going full Nana in this lively, beautiful, and moving book about being a grandmother, and much more.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Brilliant moments with her grandson
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Paris, 1940. With the city occupied by the Nazis, three young seamstresses go about their normal lives as best they can. But all three are hiding secrets. War-scarred Mireille is fighting with the Resistance; Claire has been seduced by a German officer; and Vivienne’s involvement is something she can’t reveal to either of them. Two generations later, Claire’s English granddaughter Harriet arrives in Paris, rootless and adrift, desperate to find a connection with her past.
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not her best
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Nestled in New York’s Hudson Valley is a luxury retreat boasting every amenity: organic meals, personal fitness trainers, daily massages - and all of it for free. In fact, you’re paid big money to stay here - more than you’ve ever dreamed of. The catch? For nine months, you cannot leave the grounds, your movements are monitored, and you are cut off from your former life while you dedicate yourself to the task of producing the perfect baby. For someone else.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic!
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An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good
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Maud is an irascible 88-year-old Swedish woman with no family, no friends, and...no qualms about a little murder. Ever since her darling father's untimely death when she was only 18, Maud has lived in the family's spacious apartment in downtown Gothenburg rent-free, thanks to a minor clause in a hastily negotiated contract. That was how Maud learned that good things can come from tragedy. Now in her late 80s, Maud contents herself with traveling the world and surfing the net from the comfort of her father's ancient armchair. It's a solitary existence, and she likes it that way.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fabulous series of short stories!
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When Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson fall in love in the 1970s, they are blithely ignorant of all that's to come. By 2016, their four daughters are each in a state of unrest: Wendy soothes herself with booze and younger men; Violet, a litigator-turned-stay-at-home-mom, battles anxiety and doubt; Liza, a neurotic and newly tenured professor, finds herself pregnant with a baby she's not sure she wants; and Grace, the dawdling youngest daughter, begins living a lie. Above it all, the daughters share the lingering fear that they will never find a love quite like their parents'.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Good story
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Welcome to the most tumultuous summer of the 20th century. It's 1969, and for the Levin family, the times they are a-changing. Every year, the children have looked forward to spending the summer at their grandmother's historic home in downtown Nantucket. But like so much else in America, nothing is the same.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A little like I was listening to a Soap Opera
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Fleishman Is in Trouble
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 670
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Toby Fleishman thought he knew what to expect when he and his wife of almost 15 years separated: weekends and every other holiday with the kids, some residual bitterness, the occasional moment of tension in their co-parenting negotiations. He could not have predicted that one day, in the middle of his summer of sexual emancipation, Rachel would just drop their two children off at his place and simply not return. He had been working so hard to find equilibrium in his single life. The winds of his optimism, long dormant, had finally begun to pick up. Now this.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Not uplifting but still complex
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Publisher's Summary
This powerful new novel by the best selling author of A Short Guide to a Happy Life begins when a teenage couple drives up, late at night, headlights out, to Blessings, the estate owned by Lydia Blessing. They leave a box and drive away, and in this instant, the world of Blessings is changed forever.
Richly written, deeply moving, beautifully crafted, Blessings tells the story of Skip Cuddy, caretaker of the estate, who finds a baby asleep in that box and decides he wants to keep her, and of matriarch Lydia Blessing, who, for her own reasons, decides to help him. The secrets of the past, how they affect the decisions and lives of people in the present; what makes a person, a life, legitimate or illegitimate, and who decides; the unique resources people find in themselves and in a community - these are at the center of this wonderful novel of love, redemption, and personal change by the 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."
Critic Reviews
"Immensely appealing." (Publishers Weekly)
"Quindlen writes with power and grace." (The Boston Globe)
"Written with intelligence, clarity, and heartrending directness." (Newsday)
More from the same
What members say
Average Customer Ratings
Overall
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4 out of 5 stars
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5 Stars164
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4 Stars127
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3 Stars69
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2 Stars26
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1 Stars14
Performance
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4.5 out of 5 stars
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5 Stars85
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4 Stars41
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3 Stars18
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2 Stars5
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1 Stars6
Story
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4 out of 5 stars
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5 Stars67
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4 Stars41
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3 Stars35
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2 Stars7
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1 Stars4
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
- Susan
- Rock Hill, SC, United States
- 03-19-08
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.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Ron
- Bronx, NY, USA
- 10-17-03
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.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Mimi
- Pacific Northwest
- 03-14-06
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.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 05-02-03
A book club favorite
This was a bookclub choice and it was well received... often we choose more "complicated" reads than this story ~ however, upon discussing it, we discovered there were many layers to this story. We all felt we got to know the characters well but did disagree at times regarding their motivations and character perceptions. We had a great discussion which reflected that Quindlan managed to get us to care about the story and the characters in it.
8 of 9 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Janet
- Roseville, CA, United States
- 12-19-02
Captivating
I exercised more this month just to keep listening!
13 of 16 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Rebecca
- Stillwater, NJ, United States
- 01-11-11
Loved it
I absolutely loved this book, definitely kept my attention. Although the plot was predictable the story-telling depicts vivid emotion of tragedy amidst an ordinary life.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Mark
- Waltham, MA, United States
- 07-10-14
Very boring!
I had read or listened to other books by Anna Quindlen and loved them (One True Thing and Black and Blue). This was just boring. Half the book is flashbacks, and I never cared much about characters from the past. Even the modern story, which had my interest for a while, lot its momentum. In this story, a young man finds a baby in a basket and wants to raise it on his own. He befriends his boss, a strict 80 year-old. None of these characters were realistic to me, and so my heart was not broken, as happened with so many readers and listeners.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Nanci
- 01-16-03
wonderful unfolding character study
I'm not finished yet, but it's hard to stop listening.
6 of 8 people found this review helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Ann
- Westlake Village, CA, United States
- 01-05-15
Big issues addressed in an unexpected way
What did you love best about Blessings?
There was a peacefulness to the pace which I liked, perhaps it was the reader. The author dealt with the big issues of the day in a very quiet manner.
The difference between how young versus older people see life offered insights I have never considered. The constrained life path that the old woman, Lydia Blessing, felt obligated to take and how it affected her outlook was really interesting to me.
How sexuality was treated in different eras and its impact on people's lives was powerful and made me more aware of how restrictive it was in the past.
The book also addresses class prejudice in American society. We try to deny that classism runs rampant in our country but it is very real.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
- Robert
- Weston, CT USA
- 01-24-06
Not so great
I adore Anna Quindlen, both as a columnist, and from her fiction, which I have previously read. So, I had high expectations from this book, which wer not realized. It was certainly fine, and exposed some good ideas and characters, but was just not that compelling. I kept waiting for the big turn to occur, and it never did. Certainly readable enough, but just not that great.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
- AACCEOB
- 12-23-12
Too short
This is a good short story but the narration is a bit irritating.
I love Anna quindlen so anything he writes is a must for me .
0 of 1 people found this review helpful