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Blessings
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.”
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 17, 2002
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About the author
Anna Quindlen
86 books4,724 followersAnna Marie Quindlen is an American author, journalist, and opinion columnist.
Her New York Times column, Public and Private, won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1992. She began her journalism career in 1974 as a reporter for the New York Post. Between 1977 and 1994 she held several posts at The New York Times. Her semi-autobiographical novel One True Thing (1994) served as the basis for the 1998 film starring Meryl Streep and Renée Zellweger.
Her New York Times column, Public and Private, won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1992. She began her journalism career in 1974 as a reporter for the New York Post. Between 1977 and 1994 she held several posts at The New York Times. Her semi-autobiographical novel One True Thing (1994) served as the basis for the 1998 film starring Meryl Streep and Renée Zellweger.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,787 reviews
August 15, 2010
This book was a selection for my daughter's book club. Let me say straight off that I loved it!
A baby is left by the garage of the local "big house" by a couple of teenagers, and found by the handyman who lives over the garage. A strange complicity develops between him and the house's owner, and two people from opposite sides of the social divide enter into a friendship that reconciles their own pasts.
So now I'm going to talk about the rules it breaks. You get a lot of talk on writer blogs about never starting your novel with a backstory dump: Blessings sets up the action and then gives you 70 pages of backstory before the story moves forward. You're told to use short, punchy sentences. Blessings is strewn with long and sometimes somewhat clunky sentences.
So why does it work so well? The answer has to be that the writing is beautiful, the characters are immaculately drawn and very convincing, and the setting gets just enough--but not too much--attention. It struck me that the main story is in fact quite slight, and that without the backstory setup I'd probably be thinking "so what?" as it gets going. But by the time the action gets going, I was so thoroughly invested in the lives of the characters that I devoured the rest of the book.
This is a story to study for its structure. There's something very sure about Quindlen's touch; in a very short read (just over 200 pages) she packs in a lot of literary wallop.
A baby is left by the garage of the local "big house" by a couple of teenagers, and found by the handyman who lives over the garage. A strange complicity develops between him and the house's owner, and two people from opposite sides of the social divide enter into a friendship that reconciles their own pasts.
So now I'm going to talk about the rules it breaks. You get a lot of talk on writer blogs about never starting your novel with a backstory dump: Blessings sets up the action and then gives you 70 pages of backstory before the story moves forward. You're told to use short, punchy sentences. Blessings is strewn with long and sometimes somewhat clunky sentences.
So why does it work so well? The answer has to be that the writing is beautiful, the characters are immaculately drawn and very convincing, and the setting gets just enough--but not too much--attention. It struck me that the main story is in fact quite slight, and that without the backstory setup I'd probably be thinking "so what?" as it gets going. But by the time the action gets going, I was so thoroughly invested in the lives of the characters that I devoured the rest of the book.
This is a story to study for its structure. There's something very sure about Quindlen's touch; in a very short read (just over 200 pages) she packs in a lot of literary wallop.
September 22, 2016
The blurb says it all:
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."There's more in a box than babies. Family secrets, nostalgic memories and reminders of where we come from. It is all packed away for one day when we have the guts to open it up an face the future with what we find...
I loved every minute in the company of these characters and the beautiful old place called Blessings.
A beautiful read.
August 24, 2008
This book started out a bit slow for me but once it got going I was hooked until the end. I have heard mentioned in some reviews that people don't like how it ends but I believe the ending was exactly the way it should have ended. The way Anna Quindlen writes resonates with me and I can see AND feel the setting, the character's emotions, everything about the story really. Of course I was mad that Skip doesn't get his happy ending but I'm hoping he learned from the experience and went on to make his own life and family without Faith. What a great book....one I would actually like to see made into a movie. Even the character Mrs Blessing is still with me floating around in my mind as i write this and I would have loved to have read a book on her life alone. Fascinating!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 21, 2009
Blessings is the third Anna Quindlen novel that I've read and enjoyed. She is such an eloquent writer with accurate descriptions of the silent suffering and happiness that occurs in the human psyche. I enjoyed this story of Lydia Blessing and Skip Cuddy who through the nuturing and love of an abandoned baby girl make an usual "family." Much of the story takes place in a bittersweet remembering that occurs in Lydia's mind as she reviews the last eighty years of her life. The reader is touched as Lydia remembers both the pleasures and pains of being a Blessing. She once again feels the sadness of her mother's rejection and her subsequent treatment of her own daughter. The sorrow from her brothers death and the realization of her naivete. The baby makes her yearn for a life that is gone but at the same time encourages her to try for another level of relationship with her daughter and the people around her. She realizes that life is not a static, preset karma, but a flowing river of choices that can always be made in the moment. In the same respect the character of Skip parallels Lydia's feelings by trying to become more than his families history. Quindlen has crafted a touching story that resonates at the core. Can life be changed or are we bound to become what is expected? New life, like the baby that is found by Skip and Lydia, presents us with a blank page of innocence that challenges us to become more than our limitations.
May 26, 2015
THE OLD BAT AND THE BABY
by Anna Go-Away
She was an old bat who lived alone in a crumbling mansion and she had gone seventy-five years without a man. During the first seventy-three years she had lived alone, but now that she was too old to mow her own lawn and wash her own socks a boy lived with her.
"Boy," said Lydia Blessings. "I hear a baby crying. Go and bring him into our house, so I may vicariously enjoy the thrill of motherhood."
"Yes, boss lady." The boy was thirty-seven years old, and he was not really a boy, but the old woman was rich and the boy knew his place.
In the nights the baby cried often and the old woman liked to hear it because it meant that someone else was changing the diapers and breathing in the foul baby-stink which she could never have endured.
"Ha ha," thought the old bat, "for so many long centuries men have forced women into making babies and changing diapers. Now I will force the young man who knows his place to do all the woman's work for me. Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
The young man did not like changing the baby's diapers, but he was a poor, weak-willed young man who was not smart, not rich, not directed enough for college. He changed the baby's diapers often and over time began to discover that he truly hated the old bat and the baby.
But there was no escape for the young man. Just as there will be no escape for you if you once begin the dull, insipid, ham-fisted feminist parable that is BLESSINGS by Anna Quindlen.
by Anna Go-Away
She was an old bat who lived alone in a crumbling mansion and she had gone seventy-five years without a man. During the first seventy-three years she had lived alone, but now that she was too old to mow her own lawn and wash her own socks a boy lived with her.
"Boy," said Lydia Blessings. "I hear a baby crying. Go and bring him into our house, so I may vicariously enjoy the thrill of motherhood."
"Yes, boss lady." The boy was thirty-seven years old, and he was not really a boy, but the old woman was rich and the boy knew his place.
In the nights the baby cried often and the old woman liked to hear it because it meant that someone else was changing the diapers and breathing in the foul baby-stink which she could never have endured.
"Ha ha," thought the old bat, "for so many long centuries men have forced women into making babies and changing diapers. Now I will force the young man who knows his place to do all the woman's work for me. Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
The young man did not like changing the baby's diapers, but he was a poor, weak-willed young man who was not smart, not rich, not directed enough for college. He changed the baby's diapers often and over time began to discover that he truly hated the old bat and the baby.
But there was no escape for the young man. Just as there will be no escape for you if you once begin the dull, insipid, ham-fisted feminist parable that is BLESSINGS by Anna Quindlen.
August 7, 2011
Original review posted here
Anna Quindlen is one of those authors who holds the power to knock the socks off of me. Every time I go to pick up one of her books I know that, at some point, I’m going to end up in tears – so I have to pace myself accordingly.
Blessings was no different. While it didn’t contain nearly the same amount of tragedy some of Quindlen’s other books have (Yes, Every Last One, I’m looking at you), it still had some heartbreaking moments, but, in true Quindlen style, I knew that these characters would be strong enough to overcome it.
Blessings is the story of a family, an unlikely family, but complete with all of the past wrong-doings, mistakes, loves and hurts that a “normal” family might have. This family consists of a Korean housekeeper, an 80ish year old woman, and a convicted felon groundskeeper… and one tiny, helpless baby. Of course, there is also the house, which is filled with history and memories and can’t be left out of the mix.
I was completely charmed by Charles “Skip” Cuddy and his treatment of the unlikely turn of events that culminated in his finding a baby in a box on the steps of “his” barn. I held my breath through each hurdle and ached for him as he learned the correct way to care for the child, and, when the end came (as it always does in these types of stories), my heart ached for him.
Blessings is a story of redemption, unlikely love, strength of character where there was none before and of making the right choices, no matter the pain involved to those making those choices. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it did wonders to “reset” me after reading a few bad books in a row.
December 4, 2016
Pulitzer Prize–winning ANNA QUINDLEN is such a wonderful writer that she is listed as one of my favorites. Her prose is just lovely. Washington Post Book World said, “Quindlen knows that all the things we ever will be can be found in some forgotten fragment of family.” I concur. She really captures both place and characters. BLESSINGS is a powerful novel of personal change, redemption, and love. The growth in her immaculately drawn characters is well-developed and believable. I cared so deeply about them and their circumstances that despite the well thought out and realistic resolutions to their problems I did not want the book to end. I want a sequel, with the same characters, yet I know any of this gifted author's characters in her future writings will be equally loved by her readers.
This would make an excellent book club read and discussion. It would also make a great movie. I "read" the audio version, expertly narrated by JOAN ALLEN, it was a delight. I enjoyed it so much I've requested the hard bound version from my library.
Did I mention I love how QUINDLEN writes?!
This would make an excellent book club read and discussion. It would also make a great movie. I "read" the audio version, expertly narrated by JOAN ALLEN, it was a delight. I enjoyed it so much I've requested the hard bound version from my library.
Did I mention I love how QUINDLEN writes?!
July 4, 2007
When a baby is abandoned at Blessings, a rural country estate, it is up to the ex-con groundskeeper, the crotchety old woman who owns Blessings, and the daughter of the Korean housekeeper and the local garage owner to take care of her. Blessings is a story about the skeletons in our closets, and every mistake helps us to become the people we are today.
March 24, 2012
I really enjoyed this book. I love how the woman keeps on having flashbacks of her past. there are a lot of really well written lines in this book as well. The actual story isn't half as good as the brief glances off the past. Reading this book made me treasure my memories that much more, the good and the bad. I recommend this book to everyone.
April 29, 2013
I found this on a free pile of books and thought the title vaguely intriguing. Free appeals, and I seemed to recall that I'd read Black and Blue once -- same author -- and liked it. This novel is soothing, yes it is, but it's a bit trite, and there is only one, just one, really sharply depicted poignant moment late in the narrative (where the hero has suffered a tremendous loss) which is so well-done I was left openmouthed; also, there is a charming enjoyable assessment of Agatha Christie books. That's not enough. But the tone, as I say, is soothing, and the farmhouse location on plenty of nicely tended land is bucolic and calming. I could have taken a pill for quicker and more satisfying effect.
January 17, 2009
a story of unconventional relationships that grow in unlikely places – stories of regret and wishes – stories of improvement – simultaneous intertwining of past and present – challenges some traditional notions and judgments
March 5, 2021
Through most of the first half of this book I was thinking that this was probably a three star book and I was a little disappointed because I usually expect better from this author and I’ve had some very good experiences with other books by her.
I was kind of thinking that this was a book about a guy with a slightly rough background who stumbles into something and becomes a quite unlikely new person interacting with an 80-year-old woman who similarly finds a better way of being.
So it was a comfortable book to listen to with some enjoyable phrasing but nothing special. And you kind of knew as things developed that this pleasant scenario was ultimately not going to go well. So when things began to turn around and Mr. Mom seemed to fail it was just what you had expected.
But right when things were happening as you had anticipated, things also started happening that were somewhat unexpected and much better than the sentimentality that might have been the cars of a less skilled author. All of a sudden there was more depth to the story than you might have been expecting.
One of the major parts of the book is the experience of an 80-year-old woman both reliving her life while at the same time finding a new life just before she dies. And as I am continuing to listen I am beginning to see this as a well earned four-star book. And also I am suddenly having tears in my eyes and running down my cheeks and I am thinking that this is not maudlin and this is not sentimental but this is real positive humanity.
It may not be possible that the two main characters, an old woman and a young man, given their backgrounds could come to the place where they end up in this book. But it is a happy ending that makes the book seem very positive even if leaning a bit toward implausible. I have a rule about tears in that they require me to give a book at least one extra star if not five stars. That rule which I have had for quite some time because as a guy, tears are not easy for me generally. But I am pleased to say that as I have gotten older they have come a bit easier from reading. You may say that it is strictly about sentimentality and I suppose you might be right. But I like the experience regardless of the psychological and physiological cause and effect.
Because I am 74 I find reading a book about a 80-year-old woman who is able to experience a change in her outlook and her life as a very positive experience for myself. And I did change my outlook about this book between the first half and the end. I thought it was going to be just oh well another slightly better than ho-hum enjoyable book To a feeling that this was a book with some significant impact.
I was kind of thinking that this was a book about a guy with a slightly rough background who stumbles into something and becomes a quite unlikely new person interacting with an 80-year-old woman who similarly finds a better way of being.
So it was a comfortable book to listen to with some enjoyable phrasing but nothing special. And you kind of knew as things developed that this pleasant scenario was ultimately not going to go well. So when things began to turn around and Mr. Mom seemed to fail it was just what you had expected.
But right when things were happening as you had anticipated, things also started happening that were somewhat unexpected and much better than the sentimentality that might have been the cars of a less skilled author. All of a sudden there was more depth to the story than you might have been expecting.
One of the major parts of the book is the experience of an 80-year-old woman both reliving her life while at the same time finding a new life just before she dies. And as I am continuing to listen I am beginning to see this as a well earned four-star book. And also I am suddenly having tears in my eyes and running down my cheeks and I am thinking that this is not maudlin and this is not sentimental but this is real positive humanity.
It may not be possible that the two main characters, an old woman and a young man, given their backgrounds could come to the place where they end up in this book. But it is a happy ending that makes the book seem very positive even if leaning a bit toward implausible. I have a rule about tears in that they require me to give a book at least one extra star if not five stars. That rule which I have had for quite some time because as a guy, tears are not easy for me generally. But I am pleased to say that as I have gotten older they have come a bit easier from reading. You may say that it is strictly about sentimentality and I suppose you might be right. But I like the experience regardless of the psychological and physiological cause and effect.
Because I am 74 I find reading a book about a 80-year-old woman who is able to experience a change in her outlook and her life as a very positive experience for myself. And I did change my outlook about this book between the first half and the end. I thought it was going to be just oh well another slightly better than ho-hum enjoyable book To a feeling that this was a book with some significant impact.
February 23, 2008
I decided to read a book by Anna Quindlen after hearing her speak last fall. She's a wonderful speaker and a great journalist. However, based on this book, I don't think that writing fiction is her forte. I very much enjoyed the story in "Blessings," but didn't really enjoy her writing style all that much. As she is telling about future events, her characters reminisce about their past in a way that I found distracting. I do think the story would make a good movie, but can't recommend the book as a "good read."
September 21, 2016
I like this author but almost didn't read the book because of the title. I was in a hurry, getting ready for a trip & needed an audio for the car, so decided to grab it anyway. It was fragile, succinct & thought provoking. The appearances we keep, the moments we miss, the happiness we deny ourselves...all for the sake of what is right when we might have opted for instead what is good.
The story of little Faith and Skip Cuddy is worth the read. Oh, to be loved so.
The story of little Faith and Skip Cuddy is worth the read. Oh, to be loved so.
April 11, 2009
I like this quiet, gentle, sweet book; the two main characters are a bit world-weary, having experienced harshnesses in life such that they don't take good for granted. They don't know each other at the outset of when this book is set; a baby is dropped off and they rebel at first individually, but for both it is a perfect element in their lives. And so far their fears prove unfounded and life is unfolding in its own, sweet way. Reminds me a bit of Margaret Atwood's 'Bean Trees', only that was much, much more difficult to get in to. Lovely..
I also really like how, for the older woman (who owns the estate where the baby was left), time is fluid and the past is present; some times she'll have a conversation with someone in the present moment, interspersed with a self-conversation about the past, or a conversation with someone from the past, or a conversation replay, etc.. Works for me.
Seems like this could make a great film.
Finished it - so sad! But very excellent. Sitting and stewing about the way things ended up going, I guess it is good in many ways; and leaves many good open doors for the favorites to go through in the future. A sequel or semi-sequel etc.. would be delightful, Skip is such a dear character.
Will try and write a proper review for once, by and by. Some themes, such as seeing reality clearly, people's ability to create themselves - regardless of family etc.. - as they choose, and the effects of our choices, I'll mull a bit first.
I also really like how, for the older woman (who owns the estate where the baby was left), time is fluid and the past is present; some times she'll have a conversation with someone in the present moment, interspersed with a self-conversation about the past, or a conversation with someone from the past, or a conversation replay, etc.. Works for me.
Seems like this could make a great film.
Finished it - so sad! But very excellent. Sitting and stewing about the way things ended up going, I guess it is good in many ways; and leaves many good open doors for the favorites to go through in the future. A sequel or semi-sequel etc.. would be delightful, Skip is such a dear character.
Will try and write a proper review for once, by and by. Some themes, such as seeing reality clearly, people's ability to create themselves - regardless of family etc.. - as they choose, and the effects of our choices, I'll mull a bit first.
October 15, 2012
I really enjoyed this fast and easy read. Its a story of a man who works for a wealthy woman and lives in an apartment above the garage and wakes one morning to find a baby in a cardboard box left on the step. He gets a baby book and decides to raise the baby as his own, and the elder woman ends up helping him. Very likeable characters, very descriptive dialogues... but almost "Garrison Keillor" like in describing details. Could have been said much faster. And the dialogue flip flops from past to present a lot, but still very entertaining. I'd recommend it, but not as a great literary piece. She uses rare adjectives more than once in the book... like "inchoate." I mean... come on. Who really uses that word more than once?? It felt a little like she had just learned it and wanted to use it. This book is good if you just plowed through something challenging and want a quick break for fun.
May 3, 2009
pretty boring book
July 19, 2018
3.75 stars. This book was written some time ago, but so glad I picked it up as a summer read. In Blessings, we meet an array of characters. We first meet Lydia Blessing, eighty year old matriarch and sole resident of “Blessings”, the family estate. Skip Cuddy, a young man who was down on his luck is her newly hired grounds caretaker. As Skip works long hard hours, he comes across a box left on the property with a baby inside. Rather shocked and taken by what he found, he decides that he should care for this baby, all while trying to hide this fact from Lydia. She soon finds out, and decides to help him.
As the story moves along, Lydia finds herself reflecting and reminiscing on her own past~ both fond memories and a few regrets.
Blessings can be thought of and interpreted in many ways: fortune in life, good things, sweet things, happiness, and a “by chance” happening. Quindlen explores these throughout the story. Well written, and beautiful prose and descriptions. Her characters come through strongly, and the reader can’t help but admire and like them. A book I recommend- especially for fans of Tyler, Shreve, and Pilcher.
As the story moves along, Lydia finds herself reflecting and reminiscing on her own past~ both fond memories and a few regrets.
Blessings can be thought of and interpreted in many ways: fortune in life, good things, sweet things, happiness, and a “by chance” happening. Quindlen explores these throughout the story. Well written, and beautiful prose and descriptions. Her characters come through strongly, and the reader can’t help but admire and like them. A book I recommend- especially for fans of Tyler, Shreve, and Pilcher.
December 3, 2007
Maybe it's just some personality defect on my part, but Anna Quindlen kind of bugs me. I never got into her columns, and I wasn't crazy about her novel, "Black and Blue." And anyone who has the chutzpah to publish a book of "life secrets" that's only 64 pages -- and to charge $12.95 for it -- is someone I don't want to know very well.
That said, I thought "Blessings" was an okay book. Not terrific, but worth a read if you're 3,000 miles from home and don't have a lot of other choices (which was my circumstance). Was I in love with it? Put it this way -- after I finished it, I left it in the hotel room.
That said, I thought "Blessings" was an okay book. Not terrific, but worth a read if you're 3,000 miles from home and don't have a lot of other choices (which was my circumstance). Was I in love with it? Put it this way -- after I finished it, I left it in the hotel room.
April 3, 2023
I can’t say much particularly happened throughout the course of this book, though I suppose it was moreso a character study if anything. What did keep me engaged was A. Quindlen’s quality of writing and her ability to capture the emotions of her characters and instill said emotions in her readers. Nostalgia, longing, loss, and sadness— I definitely felt all of those as I read.
Two main critiques: 1) A. Quindlen frequently switched between present and past memories without much clarity or distinction so I found myself having to reread passages to try to orient myself. 2) Nadine’s character?!
Two main critiques: 1) A. Quindlen frequently switched between present and past memories without much clarity or distinction so I found myself having to reread passages to try to orient myself. 2) Nadine’s character?!
July 9, 2019
i usually love quindlen's work, but this was just awful. baby gets dropped off, young farm hand takes care of her while living in an old woman's house, xyz happen, and that's it. not a lot going on here, folks. i didn't connect with any of the characters and barely made it through. if you're considering reading her work for the first time, please don't choose this one!
April 14, 2011
I just added a star to my rating, mainly because the characters are appealing and change for the better in the course of the story, despite some disappointments.
March 30, 2011
Great characters. Interesting story. I already miss everyone.
November 3, 2022
There will be stars over the place forever;
Though the house we loved and the street we loved are lost,
Every time the earth circles her orbit
On the night the autumn equinox is crossed,
Two stars we knew, poised on the peak of midnight
Will reach their zenith; stillness will be deep;
There will be stars over the place forever,
There will be stars forever, while we sleep.
- Sara Teasdale
Blessings is the family surname, a short novel primarily involving the relationships of a young man, an old woman and a baby.
Favorite Passages:
But taken altogether it was something almost perfect, the sort of place that . . . promised plenty without pretense, ease without arrogance.
_______
The possums were faint gray ghosts stumbling in their ungainly way behind the garage, their pink tails trailing them like afterthoughts.
_______
But he knew that there were things that seemed lunatic to the world that you decided to do anyhow.
_______
He was constructing a history for her the way he wished someone had constructed one for him.
_______
There it was again, the echo, the minuet of words spoken in the present with those from the past.
_______
It was as though it all really existed; it was all there, all true, as though, as their upper-school science teacher had said, Professor Einstein had indeed shown that all time took place simultaneously, only in different locations.
_______
Now, at age eighty, the past so distant and yet so perfectly clear, like one of the dioramas in the natural history museum, her mind tended to drift.
_______
She was growing tired of all these people speaking at once, the past, the present, perhaps even the future in the slow breathing of the baby.
_______
She was almost defeated, not by her body but by her mind and her memory, which could see herself - no, feel herself - leaping into the passenger seat with one swift easy motion. She could feel the girl and the younger woman, and she wanted them suddenly, terribly, as she had not wanted them before. It was a though all the people she had once been were contained inside her failing flesh . . .
________
"He said the trees would be here bearing fruit when he was only a memory in the minds of those who loved him. That's why he had 'Tempus fugit' carved into these benches. Time flies. My father had a very extravagant turn of phrase and mind."
Though the house we loved and the street we loved are lost,
Every time the earth circles her orbit
On the night the autumn equinox is crossed,
Two stars we knew, poised on the peak of midnight
Will reach their zenith; stillness will be deep;
There will be stars over the place forever,
There will be stars forever, while we sleep.
- Sara Teasdale
Blessings is the family surname, a short novel primarily involving the relationships of a young man, an old woman and a baby.
Favorite Passages:
But taken altogether it was something almost perfect, the sort of place that . . . promised plenty without pretense, ease without arrogance.
_______
The possums were faint gray ghosts stumbling in their ungainly way behind the garage, their pink tails trailing them like afterthoughts.
_______
But he knew that there were things that seemed lunatic to the world that you decided to do anyhow.
_______
He was constructing a history for her the way he wished someone had constructed one for him.
_______
There it was again, the echo, the minuet of words spoken in the present with those from the past.
_______
It was as though it all really existed; it was all there, all true, as though, as their upper-school science teacher had said, Professor Einstein had indeed shown that all time took place simultaneously, only in different locations.
_______
Now, at age eighty, the past so distant and yet so perfectly clear, like one of the dioramas in the natural history museum, her mind tended to drift.
_______
She was growing tired of all these people speaking at once, the past, the present, perhaps even the future in the slow breathing of the baby.
_______
She was almost defeated, not by her body but by her mind and her memory, which could see herself - no, feel herself - leaping into the passenger seat with one swift easy motion. She could feel the girl and the younger woman, and she wanted them suddenly, terribly, as she had not wanted them before. It was a though all the people she had once been were contained inside her failing flesh . . .
________
"He said the trees would be here bearing fruit when he was only a memory in the minds of those who loved him. That's why he had 'Tempus fugit' carved into these benches. Time flies. My father had a very extravagant turn of phrase and mind."
October 6, 2025
We begin with the baby dropped on a doorstep at a grand country house called Blessings. Then we meet two characters who seem, on the surface, damaged and dull. The elderly spoiled heiress, Lydia Blessing, and the young man, Skip Cuddy, who wouldn't rat out his friend, and has slept on whatever sofa or floor would hold him. I thought that Skip was the center and didn't see much hope for him. He didn't see much hope for himself. His family history is wreckage. But then he find the baby. That seemed to synch his primacy in the story, but ultimately it is the long series of unacknowledged errors among the Blessings that captured my heart.
I loved this novel and stayed up half the night to finish it. There is great generosity of heart in all of Quindlen's work. I used to read her column in, what, the 1990s? I bought her first book of essays and loved it, the first novel... then I stopped looking. Why? I found this one at the local charity shop and that was pure luck.
I loved this novel and stayed up half the night to finish it. There is great generosity of heart in all of Quindlen's work. I used to read her column in, what, the 1990s? I bought her first book of essays and loved it, the first novel... then I stopped looking. Why? I found this one at the local charity shop and that was pure luck.
March 25, 2022
Listened via the Libby app, the audiobook is worth every second, including the fab intro music! Really good, engaging story of cross generation relationships adding richness to each other’s lives. Centred around a startling discovery, I had to go with the premise but it was worth the stretch (not that far fetched!) and I really enjoyed this book.
September 27, 2012
Blessings is an antiquated estate belonging to the elderly descendant Lydia Blessing, and attended to by her contentious housekeeper, Nadine, and newly-hired groundskeeper Skip Cuddy. Life at Blessings revolves around the routine and social etiquette of a by-gone era, which Lydia refuses to move beyond. When Skip discovers an abandoned newborn child on his literal doorstep, he inexplicably chooses to keep the baby. He was only recently released from a jail sentence for being at the wrong place at the wrong time, so he does his best to make sure no one knows of her existence, lest she be taken from him. Unfortunately, or so it seems at first to the naïve Skip, Lydia happens upon the child, and thus begins a complicated partnership to keep baby Faith prospering, and a secret.
Blessings was a mixed blessing to read. The beginning of the book moved slowly, much of the narrative used to characterize the Blessing estate. It might serve well for a lengthy introduction in a movie, but in prose, it was tedious. Passages waxed beautifully poetic at times, whereby I am certain it garnered much of its literary kudos, and for those, I would agree. Had I not been given the book and heard good reports of it, and had instead picked it up in a store and read the first few pages, in truth, I doubt I would have chosen to read it.
I waded through several chapters before the storyline developed a satisfactory hold on me, and while the book was overall well-written, I marveled at its characters.
The male protagonist, Skip Cuddy, is a down-and-out anti-hero, whose cluelessness borders on the unfathomable. I empathized with his desire to not have a sweet, innocent infant be thrust into bureaucratic machinery that would spit it out into what would all-too-likely be substandard care. He never once gives thought as to how the child will integrate legally into the world without a birth certificate and social security number, things that to him seem to be of no priority, as if she can merely be a phantom in the system, an illegal alien.
Lydia Blessing is also problematic. Her determination to remain in the past, despite forays into the real-time world, seems delusional at best. She understands the exigencies of living in modern times. She takes steps to initiate making the abandoned baby a legitimate person, but does so as part of a bizarre subterfuge that is beneath her obvious intellect.
The storyline is a solid one, embroidered with appropriate emotion and turmoil, weaving together disparate lives and personalities. I just wish the narrative had been more actionable in concert with its lusciousness.
Blessings was a mixed blessing to read. The beginning of the book moved slowly, much of the narrative used to characterize the Blessing estate. It might serve well for a lengthy introduction in a movie, but in prose, it was tedious. Passages waxed beautifully poetic at times, whereby I am certain it garnered much of its literary kudos, and for those, I would agree. Had I not been given the book and heard good reports of it, and had instead picked it up in a store and read the first few pages, in truth, I doubt I would have chosen to read it.
I waded through several chapters before the storyline developed a satisfactory hold on me, and while the book was overall well-written, I marveled at its characters.
The male protagonist, Skip Cuddy, is a down-and-out anti-hero, whose cluelessness borders on the unfathomable. I empathized with his desire to not have a sweet, innocent infant be thrust into bureaucratic machinery that would spit it out into what would all-too-likely be substandard care. He never once gives thought as to how the child will integrate legally into the world without a birth certificate and social security number, things that to him seem to be of no priority, as if she can merely be a phantom in the system, an illegal alien.
Lydia Blessing is also problematic. Her determination to remain in the past, despite forays into the real-time world, seems delusional at best. She understands the exigencies of living in modern times. She takes steps to initiate making the abandoned baby a legitimate person, but does so as part of a bizarre subterfuge that is beneath her obvious intellect.
The storyline is a solid one, embroidered with appropriate emotion and turmoil, weaving together disparate lives and personalities. I just wish the narrative had been more actionable in concert with its lusciousness.
January 7, 2025
What a blessing it was to read this book in this new year. I won’t discuss too much about the plot except to say that a 24 year old man finding a newborn baby wrapped up in a box on his garage steps is a pretty amazing start. That he looks after the little baby so perfectly for four months might seem impossible but Skip (Charles) is a determined young man for whom life has been a succession of sad events. And then there is the owner of this country house, 80 year old Lydia Blessing, who has many secrets of her own. She becomes aware of Skip’s care of the little foundling and these four months bring her immense joy. I was so overwrought at page 168 that I put the book away until I thought I could cope. The author perfectly explains the love between Lydia’s late husband, Benny( who died in WW2) and her brother Sunny. These were times when gay men had to marry and keep their true love a secret. They both loved Lydia so much. I loved the two narratives: the one of Lydia, Benny, Sunny and Lydia’s daughter, the generous & kind Meredith plus the contemporary one of Skip and the baby. The resolution at the end was very satisfying. Must read more of this author. Only 226 pages but what a great read. Reminds me a lot of William Kent Krueger.
March 9, 2010
A lovely book. Ms Quindlen's writing style is reminiscent of that of one of my favourite authors Rumer Godden. The plot is a framework for character development, and both plot and characters slowly open like a flower. Corny, I know, but hypnotic & beautifully done.
The basic plot is simple: town loser finds abandoned baby & falls in love with baby, cranky rigid old lady who is his employer becomes a part of the conspiracy to keep the baby a secret, and, yes, there is a girl. Around this framework, the author slowly allows the characters to take on flesh. Mrs Blessing particularly (the cranky old lady) becomes a complex multilayered personality over the course of the novel. We discover a lot of interesting things about the perfect Mrs Blessing - and she too discovers some things about herself. This book is about secrets and their unveiling. I really really liked it.
The basic plot is simple: town loser finds abandoned baby & falls in love with baby, cranky rigid old lady who is his employer becomes a part of the conspiracy to keep the baby a secret, and, yes, there is a girl. Around this framework, the author slowly allows the characters to take on flesh. Mrs Blessing particularly (the cranky old lady) becomes a complex multilayered personality over the course of the novel. We discover a lot of interesting things about the perfect Mrs Blessing - and she too discovers some things about herself. This book is about secrets and their unveiling. I really really liked it.
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