Summary | Excerpt | Reviews | Read-Alikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio
Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Feb 1998, 293 pages
Paperback:
Feb 1999, 396 pages
With this stunning novel about a woman and a marriage that begins in passion and becomes violent, Anna Quinlen moves to a new dimension as a writer of superb fiction.
With this stunning novel about a woman and a marriage that begins in
passion and becomes violent, the Pulitzer Prize--winning journalist and bestselling author
of One True Thing and Object Lessons moves to a new dimension as a writer of
superb fiction. "If literature were judged solely by its ability to elicit strong
emotions," Kirkus Reviews said about One True Thing,
"columnist-cum-novelist Quindlen would win another Pulitzer." And the same will
be said about Black and Blue, a brilliant novel of suspense, substance, and
importance.
In Black and Blue, Fran Benedetto tells a spellbinding story: how at nineteen she
fell in love with Bobby Benedetto, how their passionate marriage became a nightmare, why
she stayed, and what happened on the night she finally decided to run away with her
ten-year-old son and start a new life under a new name. Living in fear in Florida--yet
with increasing confidence, freedom, and hope--Fran unravels the complex threads of
family, identity, and desire that shape a woman's life, even as she begins to create a new
one. As Fran starts to heal from the pain of the past, she almost believes she has escaped
it--that Bobby Benedetto will not find her and again provoke the complex combustion
between them of attraction and destruction, lust and love.
Black and Blue is a beautifully written, heart-stopping story in which Anna
Quindlen writes with power, wisdom, and humor about the real lives of men and women, the
varieties of people and love, the bonds between mother and child, the solace of family and
friendship, the inexplicable feelings between people who are passionately connected in
ways they don't understand. It is a remarkable work of fiction by the writer whom Alice
Hoffman has called "a national treasure."
The first time my husband hit me I was nineteen years old.
One sentence and I'm lost. One sentence and I can hear his voice in my head, that
butterscotch-syrup voice that made goose bumps rise on my arms when I was young, that
turned all of my skin warm and alive with a sibilant S, the drawling vowels, its shocking
fricatives. It always sounded like a whisper, the way he talked, the intimacy of it, the
way the words seemed to go into your guts, your head, your heart. "Geez, Bob,"
one of the guys would say, "you should have been a radio announcer. You should have
done those voice-over things for commercials." It was like a genie, wafting purple
and smoky from the lamp, Bobby's voice, or perfume when you took the glass stopper out of
the bottle.
I remember going to court once when Bobby was a witness in a case. It was eleven, maybe
twelve years ago, before Robert was born, before my collarbone was broken, and my ...
If you liked Black and Blue, try these:
by Janine Latus
Published 2008
In April 2002, Janine Latus's youngest sister, Amy, wrote a note and taped it to the inside of her desk drawer. Today Ron Ball and I are romantically involved, it read, but I fear I have placed myself at risk in a variety of ways. Based on his criminal past, writing this out just seems like the smart thing to do. If I am missing or dead this ...
by Martha Stout
Published 2006
A fascinating, important book about what makes good people good and bad people bad, and how good people can protect themselves from those others. Highly recommended.
The Flower Sisters
by Michelle Collins Anderson
From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention.
The House on Biscayne Bay
by Chanel Cleeton
As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.
The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu
Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
