Genres
Collection
Publication
Delta (2000), Edition: Oprah's Book Club, 288 pages
Description
A nurse escapes her abusive husband, a New York policeman, taking their son with her to Florida. She assumes a new identity and even finds romance, but there is a price, the 10-year-old boy misses his father and she lives in constant fear the father will find them, which he does. The novel analyzes why abused women wait so long to make their break.
User reviews
LibraryThing member spunnsugarz
This rivetting story is about Fran and Bobby Benedetto. They fell in love when they were young, and before they were even married Bobby started to show his violent nature. "The first time my husband hit me I was nineteen years old," begins Fran Benedetto. A heartbreaking story of how the years of
The agency relocates her to Florida, and tentatively she begins to rebuild her life. Robert starts a new school, she a new job, and they begin to make new friends. She is still fearful of the shadows, what lurks behind every corner, but she is trying. She really misses her sister Grace though. They spoke on the phone every day and when she left, she didn't tell anyone where she was going.
The story escalates to a heartbreaking ending, but one with hope. This being the first Anna Quindlen book I've read, I have to say I wasn't disappointed. The characters were emotional and the story gut-wrenching. Definately will be looking for more from this author in the future.
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abuse accummulated. Fran didn't want to leave Bobby because of their son, Robert. Plus, as Bobby said, What was she going to do? Call the cops? Bobby was a police officer. She finally had a home with friends, and she enjoyed her job at the local hospital as a nurse. But one day, Fran decides to leave Bobby with the help of a secret agency.The agency relocates her to Florida, and tentatively she begins to rebuild her life. Robert starts a new school, she a new job, and they begin to make new friends. She is still fearful of the shadows, what lurks behind every corner, but she is trying. She really misses her sister Grace though. They spoke on the phone every day and when she left, she didn't tell anyone where she was going.
The story escalates to a heartbreaking ending, but one with hope. This being the first Anna Quindlen book I've read, I have to say I wasn't disappointed. The characters were emotional and the story gut-wrenching. Definately will be looking for more from this author in the future.
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LibraryThing member ClaudiaMoscovici
Anna Quindlen's Black and Blue follows in Lolita's footsteps as a great work of psychological fiction. Psychological, because the author sketches in such a realistic fashion the profile of the abuser that I'm tempted to say her novel should be available in every domestic violence shelter under the
The message of Black and Blue is similar to that of nonfiction books on dangerous men, which attempt to educate the public and empower the victims. Abusers are often charming. Abusers don't usually begin intimate relationships with overt abuse. Abusers can be entrancing and romantic, at least at first, during the wooing phase. Abuse doesn't get better; it escalates. Abusers push the limits of their victims' tolerance, little by little, until they dominate their targets. Abuse is above all a power game. The abusers are generally narcissistic individuals who lack empathy and want total control. The victims, however, aren't necessarily weak or passive. They can be strong and loving men and women, like Frannie Benedetto. Abuse is a tragedy without a silver lining.
It's one thing to read this familiar message in self-help books and pamphlets and quite another to feel it in a great work of fiction. From the very first lines, Black and Blue gets under your skin. It reveals the mindset of both abuser and abused. It traces the emotional scars of the child or children who have to endure these sad family dynamics. "My son scarcely ever cries. And his smile comes so seldom that it's like bright sunshine on winter snow, blinding and strange." (26). Such beautiful language for such ugly facts... Perhaps this is the best way to bring the abuse to life for others. Above all, Black and Blue puts you in the shoes of all those who have the courage to run away from it without ever looking back.
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category of "nonfiction." And yet, one can't forget that Black and Blue is above all a work of fiction, masterfully crafted. Its beginning echoes the first lines of Lolita, in fact, the novel which it resembles in style even more than in content.The message of Black and Blue is similar to that of nonfiction books on dangerous men, which attempt to educate the public and empower the victims. Abusers are often charming. Abusers don't usually begin intimate relationships with overt abuse. Abusers can be entrancing and romantic, at least at first, during the wooing phase. Abuse doesn't get better; it escalates. Abusers push the limits of their victims' tolerance, little by little, until they dominate their targets. Abuse is above all a power game. The abusers are generally narcissistic individuals who lack empathy and want total control. The victims, however, aren't necessarily weak or passive. They can be strong and loving men and women, like Frannie Benedetto. Abuse is a tragedy without a silver lining.
It's one thing to read this familiar message in self-help books and pamphlets and quite another to feel it in a great work of fiction. From the very first lines, Black and Blue gets under your skin. It reveals the mindset of both abuser and abused. It traces the emotional scars of the child or children who have to endure these sad family dynamics. "My son scarcely ever cries. And his smile comes so seldom that it's like bright sunshine on winter snow, blinding and strange." (26). Such beautiful language for such ugly facts... Perhaps this is the best way to bring the abuse to life for others. Above all, Black and Blue puts you in the shoes of all those who have the courage to run away from it without ever looking back.
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LibraryThing member astrida22
"...Black and Blue has to be [Quindlen] at her finest. This was a book I was not able to put down at all. The characters are very realistic and you get a true understanding of all the emotions that they are feeling.
Fran Benedetto, a nurse who lives in NYC and seems to be happily married 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."
Fran Benedetto, a nurse who lives in NYC and seems to be happily married to her
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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."
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LibraryThing member bookworm12
Fran has been the victim of domestic abuse for years. She’s built a life around the lies she tells her family and friends when a new bruise appears. Her husband, a New York cop, intimidates and threatens her into feeling helpless.
Finally, she’s had enough and decides to take her young son and
I don’t know why, but I always seem to lump this author into the same group as Jodi Picoult, Anne Tyler and Anita Shreve. I don’t read much from any of those authors, so I tend to confuse them. I think I enjoy Quindlen more than the rest, but I’ve only read a few things by her.
This book made me feel so grateful for the men in my life. My husband, father, brother, etc. are all wonderful men and I have never ever had to live with the fear of being hit. I think it’s easy for people who have never been abused, like me, to wonder why the women stay or go back to the men. This book helped give me a better understanding of their point-of-view and how hopeless those situations can feel. Quindlen did a great job portraying this without painting Fran as only a victim.
I won’t give anything away about the ending, except to say it really surprised me. I was expecting something much more predictable and instead I think it was much more realistic.
Finally, she’s had enough and decides to take her young son and
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leave. With a new identity and very little else, she starts a new life in Florida. But even a new home and friends doesn’t help her shake the constant feeling of fear she’s grown to live with. Every new stranger talking to her son is suspicious and each wrong number leaves her shaking. I don’t know why, but I always seem to lump this author into the same group as Jodi Picoult, Anne Tyler and Anita Shreve. I don’t read much from any of those authors, so I tend to confuse them. I think I enjoy Quindlen more than the rest, but I’ve only read a few things by her.
This book made me feel so grateful for the men in my life. My husband, father, brother, etc. are all wonderful men and I have never ever had to live with the fear of being hit. I think it’s easy for people who have never been abused, like me, to wonder why the women stay or go back to the men. This book helped give me a better understanding of their point-of-view and how hopeless those situations can feel. Quindlen did a great job portraying this without painting Fran as only a victim.
I won’t give anything away about the ending, except to say it really surprised me. I was expecting something much more predictable and instead I think it was much more realistic.
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LibraryThing member tls1215
I didn't know anything about this book when I picked it up, but it's a very compelling story and has an incredible ending. Story leaves you on the edge of your seat. Well written and she describes things in such a way that you know exactly how the protagonist is feeling.
LibraryThing member bettyjo
tough story about people caught up in the cycle of domestic abuse
LibraryThing member kelseyedelen
ehh. just really depressing and i guess intriguing but not terribly riveting; i don't feel like there was much really intense plot advancement.
wouldn't read again.
wouldn't read again.
LibraryThing member carmarie
I loved this book. This was the first of her books that I have read. I can't wait to get to the next one. Anna Quindlen is truely a graceful writer. She writes with clarity and ease. Not to miss!
LibraryThing member ReluctantTechie
Recommend- excellent character development of the main character- Frannie Benedetto- who escapes to Florida with her only son and becomes Beth Crenshaw. Her recovery- in fits and starts- seems realistic. You feel her fears and her pain. Fortunately, I have no personal knowledge of this problem, but
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now I'll have more insight into it. Show Less
LibraryThing member kewpie
For December 07's book discussion at work, we had to read a Jodi Piccoult readalike. I am not a fan, and this book didn't do a lot for me. The pace was really slow and the protagonist spent too much time in her head for my liking. The "surprise" ending wasn't much of a surprise and I found it
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disappointing. Show Less
LibraryThing member greathouse.28
Black and Blue was horrifing because it is a situation many women face day to day. The story of domestic abuse and broken families was powerful and heartbreaking. You can feel Fran's, the main character, desperation and struggle. The weight of the situation becomes real to those who have never been
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near to experiencing it. Show Less
LibraryThing member mmillet
Interesting story about a battered woman who leaves her husband (who is a cop) in hopes that her son will not become the same type of man her husband was. Very interesting look at the mind of someone who is manipulated like that, a little graphic sometimes so I wouldn't recommend to just anyone,
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but a good story to understand how many women feel like they have no choice and no way to escape. Show Less
LibraryThing member Sunflower6_Cris
Fran Benedetto, is a nurse who lives in New York City and although she seems to be happily married to her husband Bobby she is a victim of domestic abuse. Fran realizes that the only way to survive is to go underground and assume a new identity with her son Robert. However, since her husband is a
You can feel every emotion that Fran feels through Anna Quindlen's excellent descriptions in this book. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, especially when trying to understand how domestic abuse affects those within the situation.
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police officer she always feels like he'll turn up one day to kill her and take her son away.You can feel every emotion that Fran feels through Anna Quindlen's excellent descriptions in this book. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, especially when trying to understand how domestic abuse affects those within the situation.
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LibraryThing member davidabrams
Anna Quindlen has a difficult task: how to write a fresh, convincing novel about spouse abuse? Sadly, the American public has grown numb to the subject. With all the ugly headlines, the television movies, the spill-your-guts arena of talk shows, how can a writer possibly make readers feel the pain
Quindlen (author of "One True Thing") does it, and does it well, in "Black and Blue," a novel that at least one reviewer has dubbed the "Uncle Tom’s Cabin" of domestic violence. The comparison is not that far off base. Just as slavery was an ugly scab on American history, so is the current issue of spouse abuse. While Harriet Beecher Stowe may have been guilty of the occasional hyperbole in "Uncle Tom," Anna Quindlen takes the subtle approach. The effect is just as devastating.
When we first meet Frannie Benedetto, she’s on the run, disappearing into the underground courtesy of a secret organization that treats victimized women like enrollees in a Witness Protection Program. Fran is fleeing more than a decade of slaps, kicks, rapes and insults from her husband Bobby, a New York City cop. She’s got her 10-year-old son Robert in tow as she escapes to a secure, Bobby-free life, complete with new identity, job and apartment in Florida. She emerges as Beth Crenshaw and, while it’s a joy to see her rebirth and her struggle to make sense of a life without a past, we feel the constant dread that someday her past will come back to get her. After all, didn’t Bobby once vow that he’d track her down and kill her if she ever left him? His threat hangs over every sentence of the novel.
Quindlen’s talent lies in the fact that she can deliver a novel about spouse abuse which doesn’t contain any direct portrayals of abuse until the closing pages. For most of "Black and Blue," we don’t actually see the violence. It’s all off-camera, so to speak; indirect allusions to Bobby’s seething temperament. Yet, without one punch being thrown, I knew this was a dangerous man and that Frannie/Beth had ever right to be very, very afraid.
With a keen eye for the details of everyday living, Quindlen makes us feel the torment and the fear of this woman’s second chance at life. Apart from a few technical bad choices (such as, giving two major characters similar names like Robert and Bobby), Quindlen has given the public a new look at an old social ill.
(Quibble Alert: Avoid the Dell paperback version of the novel. I have never read a professionally printed manuscript that was so full of typographical errors as this one!)
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of one spouse hitting another?Quindlen (author of "One True Thing") does it, and does it well, in "Black and Blue," a novel that at least one reviewer has dubbed the "Uncle Tom’s Cabin" of domestic violence. The comparison is not that far off base. Just as slavery was an ugly scab on American history, so is the current issue of spouse abuse. While Harriet Beecher Stowe may have been guilty of the occasional hyperbole in "Uncle Tom," Anna Quindlen takes the subtle approach. The effect is just as devastating.
When we first meet Frannie Benedetto, she’s on the run, disappearing into the underground courtesy of a secret organization that treats victimized women like enrollees in a Witness Protection Program. Fran is fleeing more than a decade of slaps, kicks, rapes and insults from her husband Bobby, a New York City cop. She’s got her 10-year-old son Robert in tow as she escapes to a secure, Bobby-free life, complete with new identity, job and apartment in Florida. She emerges as Beth Crenshaw and, while it’s a joy to see her rebirth and her struggle to make sense of a life without a past, we feel the constant dread that someday her past will come back to get her. After all, didn’t Bobby once vow that he’d track her down and kill her if she ever left him? His threat hangs over every sentence of the novel.
Quindlen’s talent lies in the fact that she can deliver a novel about spouse abuse which doesn’t contain any direct portrayals of abuse until the closing pages. For most of "Black and Blue," we don’t actually see the violence. It’s all off-camera, so to speak; indirect allusions to Bobby’s seething temperament. Yet, without one punch being thrown, I knew this was a dangerous man and that Frannie/Beth had ever right to be very, very afraid.
With a keen eye for the details of everyday living, Quindlen makes us feel the torment and the fear of this woman’s second chance at life. Apart from a few technical bad choices (such as, giving two major characters similar names like Robert and Bobby), Quindlen has given the public a new look at an old social ill.
(Quibble Alert: Avoid the Dell paperback version of the novel. I have never read a professionally printed manuscript that was so full of typographical errors as this one!)
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LibraryThing member estellen
Good topic, bad execution.
LibraryThing member Marlene-NL
On Sunday, September 26, 2004 I wrote:
I loved reading this book. I hated it when I was finished. This book was definitely one of my favourite's this year.After reading this i wanted to read more books by Anna Quindlen.Next will be Blessings.
I loved reading this book. I hated it when I was finished. This book was definitely one of my favourite's this year.After reading this i wanted to read more books by Anna Quindlen.Next will be Blessings.
LibraryThing member littlewatkins
Very grabbing, can't put down book
LibraryThing member ecw0647
My wife and I listened to this on a trip to Texas and while it held our interest was just not as good as some others out there.
Fran Benedetto is a battered wife. She’s an RN whose abusive husband is a cop, and she has seen to what little effect orders of protection have. In fact, three women
Her torment lies in the fact that she still loves her husband and his passion. He had a brooding and magnetic personality and loved their son Robert, but his drinking and rages had become more and more violent. She escapes with Robert, a child of about twelve and settles in with a new identity in Florida. She constantly worries that her husband will seek her out and kill her. She knows he has the resources and connections to find her if he wants to. Despite her new name, new job, and new location, everything she does is tempered by the realization that Bobby could show up at any time to take away Robert and beat her again.
Quindlan renders the horrors of spousal abuse so realistically one has to wonder if she herself had perhaps been a battered spouse. There is a strong tension throughout the novel for the reader who wonders just when everything will fall apart and why. It remains a tragedy that society has yet to find a better way to deal with the terrible plight of women who find themselves in such a tragic situation.
Fran Benedetto is a battered wife. She’s an RN whose abusive husband is a cop, and she has seen to what little effect orders of protection have. In fact, three women
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she had seen in the emergency room after being battered by their husbands of boyfriends were later killed by them despite the supposed legal remedy. So when Bobby, her husband, really smashes her about the face, she enlists the support of Patty Bancroft, the organizer and founder of an agency that relocates women and creates new identities for them so they can escape from their abusive partners.Her torment lies in the fact that she still loves her husband and his passion. He had a brooding and magnetic personality and loved their son Robert, but his drinking and rages had become more and more violent. She escapes with Robert, a child of about twelve and settles in with a new identity in Florida. She constantly worries that her husband will seek her out and kill her. She knows he has the resources and connections to find her if he wants to. Despite her new name, new job, and new location, everything she does is tempered by the realization that Bobby could show up at any time to take away Robert and beat her again.
Quindlan renders the horrors of spousal abuse so realistically one has to wonder if she herself had perhaps been a battered spouse. There is a strong tension throughout the novel for the reader who wonders just when everything will fall apart and why. It remains a tragedy that society has yet to find a better way to deal with the terrible plight of women who find themselves in such a tragic situation.
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LibraryThing member Betty.Ann.Beam
Although I fear the subject matter has been tackled many times before, this is a well written, non judgemental novel about domestic abuse, recovery and its impact on children.
LibraryThing member LeslieHurd
Some reviewers felt this book was predictable and boring in parts. While it's true that I was certain throughout that the abusive husband would return to seek vengance against his wife for her escape, I found myself, like the heroine, looking around corners and suspicious of everyone. Fran, the
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heroine, frankly tries to discover how she became caught up in such a long-term abusive relationship, and tries against strong odds to provide a normal childhood for already emotionally damaged son. While the romantic angle was a little pat, the rest of the relationships seemed authentic and I enjoyed watching Fran's growth and search for independence and power over her own life. Show Less
LibraryThing member BookConcierge
Book on CD narrated by Kimberly Schraf.
With the help of an advocate group, Frances Benedeto leaves her abusive husband, Bobby (a New York city detective), and takes her son to a new state with new names and new backstories. It’s not much different from entering the Witness Protection Service, in
Okay, there’s a nugget of a good story here, and I started out completely engaged in the story. But as the book moved along I found that I couldn’t really believe in Fran/Beth. I get that women who are repeatedly abused and controlled by animals like Bobby lose what self-confidence they started with pretty quickly. That they become full of self-doubt and take on the blame for what has happened. That they become immobilized by fear and the certainty that they are all alone and no one will believe and/or help them. That they lose the ability to trust.
But Beth keeps saying she’s never going back and then doing things that will clearly make it easier for Bobby to find her. And when, after her new identity is compromised, she’s offered additional help and another relocation, she refuses … more than once. I was just so frustrated by her behavior. While I was interested enough in the book to keep reading/listening, I don’t think I’ll remember it for long.
On the positive side … Quindlen gives the reader a reasonably suspenseful story arc. She also gives us a new group of friends that will obviously help Beth and her son, Robert, move forward in a new life. And she resists the impulse to give us a happy ending. These kinds of cases rarely end happily, and Beth will face these issues for years to come. I applaud Quindlen for shedding some light on the issue.
Kimberly Schraf does a fine job of narrating the audiobook. She sets a good pace and gives the many characters sufficiently unique voices to help differentiate them. Her rendition of Bobby is oily and just gives me the shivers.
With the help of an advocate group, Frances Benedeto leaves her abusive husband, Bobby (a New York city detective), and takes her son to a new state with new names and new backstories. It’s not much different from entering the Witness Protection Service, in
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that she has to cut all ties with her family and friends in order to avoid being found out. Now she’s Beth Crenshaw, living in a small apartment, walking to work as a home healthcare aide, and trying her best to explain to her son why they have to do what they are doing to stay safe. Okay, there’s a nugget of a good story here, and I started out completely engaged in the story. But as the book moved along I found that I couldn’t really believe in Fran/Beth. I get that women who are repeatedly abused and controlled by animals like Bobby lose what self-confidence they started with pretty quickly. That they become full of self-doubt and take on the blame for what has happened. That they become immobilized by fear and the certainty that they are all alone and no one will believe and/or help them. That they lose the ability to trust.
But Beth keeps saying she’s never going back and then doing things that will clearly make it easier for Bobby to find her. And when, after her new identity is compromised, she’s offered additional help and another relocation, she refuses … more than once. I was just so frustrated by her behavior. While I was interested enough in the book to keep reading/listening, I don’t think I’ll remember it for long.
On the positive side … Quindlen gives the reader a reasonably suspenseful story arc. She also gives us a new group of friends that will obviously help Beth and her son, Robert, move forward in a new life. And she resists the impulse to give us a happy ending. These kinds of cases rarely end happily, and Beth will face these issues for years to come. I applaud Quindlen for shedding some light on the issue.
Kimberly Schraf does a fine job of narrating the audiobook. She sets a good pace and gives the many characters sufficiently unique voices to help differentiate them. Her rendition of Bobby is oily and just gives me the shivers.
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LibraryThing member Wassilissa
In dem Buch wird die Geschichte einer Frau erzählt, die mit ihrem Sohn vor ihrem brutalen Ehemann flieht udn sich an einem anderen Ort ein neues Leben aufbaut.
Ich finde die Personen sehr glaubwürdig. Die Hauptfigur wird in ihrer Zerrissenheit zwischen einstiger Liebe und Demütigung sehr
Auch die Nebenfiguren sind ausgezeichnet.
Ich blieb am Schluss mit zwei Hauptgedanken zurück: Die Hauptfigur kann auf ein ausgezeichnetes Unterstützernetz zurückgreifen, gibt es so etwas wirklich? Wie wäre das heute, wo jeder auch digital zu finden ist? Wie wäre das in Deutschland?
Und natürlich die Frage, ob jemand in meinem Umfeld betroffen ist.
Ich finde die Personen sehr glaubwürdig. Die Hauptfigur wird in ihrer Zerrissenheit zwischen einstiger Liebe und Demütigung sehr
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plausibel dargestellt, genau wie der Sohn, der beide Elternteile liebt.Auch die Nebenfiguren sind ausgezeichnet.
Ich blieb am Schluss mit zwei Hauptgedanken zurück: Die Hauptfigur kann auf ein ausgezeichnetes Unterstützernetz zurückgreifen, gibt es so etwas wirklich? Wie wäre das heute, wo jeder auch digital zu finden ist? Wie wäre das in Deutschland?
Und natürlich die Frage, ob jemand in meinem Umfeld betroffen ist.
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LibraryThing member SqueakyChu
In this very sad story, one woman tells of her flight from a life of domestic abuse as the wife of a New York city policeman. She and her ten-year-old son are assisted to begin a new life under new identities in Florida. Constantly she is reminded that hers must be a life of new secrets because her
Quindlen's writing in Black and Blue is exquisite. The words just flow into images and feelings. While reading this book, the reader is actually taken into the body of Beth Crenshaw, formerly Fran Benedetto, feeling her pain
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husband is looking for her.Quindlen's writing in Black and Blue is exquisite. The words just flow into images and feelings. While reading this book, the reader is actually taken into the body of Beth Crenshaw, formerly Fran Benedetto, feeling her pain
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LibraryThing member bobbieharv
I hated One True Thing, but a friend highly recommended this. I didn't like it either. It's about a battered wife who escapes her husband with her son. I find her writing kind of trivial, with too much telling and not enough showing through scenes.
LibraryThing member Carol420
It's the the story of Frances (Fran) Benedetto. On the surface a successful nurse with a handsome policeman husband and adorable son. All seems well and the marriage seems perfect but there are dark threads woven throughout and they are about to become unraveled. Fran is the victim of physical
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abuse from her husband Bobby. Bobby's job as a policeman is to protect...but who is going to protect Fran? Because Bobby is liked and respected by his peers...Fran fears that she'll lose her son so she puts her off reporting and hides her injuries. Bobby eventually went beyond the hidden bruises and breaks her nose, Finally Fran decides that enough is enough, and contacts a mysterious woman who runs an 'underground' service for battered wives. The woman gets Fran and her son relocated but her problems and her fears never completely go away. Running from New York to Florida she fights to stay one step ahead of the husband who's hunting her...perhaps with murder in mind this time. A well written story about a horrible subject that is too often on the other side of fiction. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Women's Prize for Fiction (Longlist — 1998)
Oprah's Book Club selection (1998)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1998-08
DDC/MDS
| 813.54 |
ISBN
0385333137 / 9780385333139
Other editions
Black and Blue: A Novel by Anna Quindlen (Hardcover)