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Overview
Blessings, the bestselling novel by the author of Black and Blue, One True Thing, Object Lessons, and A Short Guide to a Happy Life, begins when, late at night, a teenage couple drives up to the estate owned by Lydia Blessing and leaves a box.
In this instant, the world of the estate called Blessings is changed forever. The story of Skip Cuddy, the Blessings caretaker, 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, Blessings explores how the secrets of the past affect decisions and lives 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. 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.”
Synopsis
Blessings, the bestselling novel by the author of Black and Blue, One True Thing, Object Lessons, and A Short Guide to a Happy Life, begins when, late at night, a teenage couple drives up to the estate owned by Lydia Blessing and leaves a box.
In this instant, the world of the estate called Blessings is changed forever. The story of Skip Cuddy, the Blessings caretaker, 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, Blessings explores how the secrets of the past affect decisions and lives 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. 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.”
Book Magazine
In her elegant, compassionate, but not always plausible new novel, Quindlen takes readers to an estate in a town called Mount Mason. The estate is named Blessings, and its eighty-year-old owner, Lydia, has been living the staid and brittle life of remorse and "self-imposed exile" for as long as she can remember. Things change when a baby mysteriously shows up in a box on the steps of the garage and the handyman, Skip Cuddy, decides to raise the child as his own. His attempt to keep the baby a secret fails miserably, and soon Lydia and Skip, the unlikeliest of friends, develop a binding affection for the child, whom Skip names Faith. The writing is lovely, and some of the insights into human nature are breathtaking. But when the real world does finally intrude and the tranquillity of Blessings is broken, Quindlen sends her characters down improbable paths; suddenly they are acting, reacting and speaking in ways that seem oddly out of sync with the personalities she has developed. Still, there are great pleasures to be had in reading this novel, particularly its lambent prose.
Editorials
Beth Kephart
In her elegant, compassionate, but not always plausible new novel, Quindlen takes readers to an estate in a town called Mount Mason. The estate is named Blessings, and its eighty-year-old owner, Lydia, has been living the staid and brittle life of remorse and "self-imposed exile" for as long as she can remember. Things change when a baby mysteriously shows up in a box on the steps of the garage and the handyman, Skip Cuddy, decides to raise the child as his own. His attempt to keep the baby a secret fails miserably, and soon Lydia and Skip, the unlikeliest of friends, develop a binding affection for the child, whom Skip names Faith. The writing is lovely, and some of the insights into human nature are breathtaking. But when the real world does finally intrude and the tranquillity of Blessings is broken, Quindlen sends her characters down improbable paths; suddenly they are acting, reacting and speaking in ways that seem oddly out of sync with the personalities she has developed. Still, there are great pleasures to be had in reading this novel, particularly its lambent prose.Publishers Weekly
Venturing into fictional territory far from the blue-collar neighborhoods of Black and Blue and other works, Quindlen's immensely appealing new novel is a study in social contrasts and of characters whose differences are redeemed by the transformative power of love. The eponymous Blessings is a stately house now gone to seed, inhabited by Mrs. Blessing, an 80-year-old wealthy semirecluse with an acerbic tongue and a reputation for hanging on to every nickel. Widowed during WWII, Lydia Blessing was banished to her socially prominent family's country estate for reasons that are revealed only gradually. Austere, unbending and joyless, Lydia has no idea, when she hires young Skip Cuddy as her handyman, how her life and his are about to change. Skip had promise once, but bad companions and an absence of parental guidance have led to a stint in the county jail. When Skip stumbles upon a newborn baby girl who's been abandoned at Blessings, he suddenly has a purpose in life. With tender devotion, he cares secretly for the baby for four months, in the process forming a bond with Mrs. Blessing, who discovers and admires his clandestine parenting skills. A double betrayal destroys their idyll. As usual, 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. While it skirts sentimentality by a hairbreadth, 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. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.KLIATT
Blessings is the name of an estate owned by an aging, ornery matriarch, Lydia Blessing. One day someone drops off an infant at this estate assuming she will get excellent care. The handyman, who just happens to be an ex-con, finds her and begins to raise her as his own. Mrs. Blessing finds out and the three become a unique family. They name her Faith and fall in love with the baby. It's a fragmented family with an absurd blending of an old woman with a great amount of resources and a young man who owns nothing. Quindlen, an award-winning columnist and author, writes about how love of a child brings out the best in people, with a healthy dose of reality thrown into the pile. It is a powerful commentary on family interactions and the ability of a person to change. The past never stays in the past but surfaces. The characters have to sort out what actually happened and reconcile themselves to the truth so they are able to move forward and become a family unit in the most unconventional manner. This is for older high school students and fans of Quindlen. KLIATT Codes: SA-Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2002, Random House, 237p., Ages 15 to adult.— Sherri F. Ginsberg