Black and Blue: A Novel (Oprah's Book Club) 
asked by mags on November 5, 2006 12:32 AM
Oprah Book Club® Selection, April 1998: "The first time my husband hit me I was nineteen years old," begins Fran Benedetto, the broken heroine of Anna Quindlen's Black and Blue. With one sweeping sentence, the door to an abused and tortured world is swung wide open and the psyche of a crushed and tattered self-image exposed. "Frannie, Frannie, Fran"--as Bobby Benedetto liked to call her before smashing her into kitchen appliances--was a young, energetic nursing student when she met her husband-to-be at a local Brooklyn bar. She was instantly captivated by his dark, brooding looks and magnetic personality, but her fascination soon solidified into a marital prison sentence of incessant abuse and the destruction of her own identity. After an especially horrific beating and rape, Fran realizes that the next attack could be the last. Fearing her son would be left alone with Bobby, she escapes one morning with her child. Fran's salvation comes in the form of Patty Bancroft and Co., a relocation agency for abused women that touts better service than the witness protection program. Armed only with a phone number, a few hundred dollars, and the help of several anonymous volunteers, Fran begins a new life. The agency relocates her to Florida, where she becomes Beth Crenshaw, a recently divorced home-care assistant from Delaware. Fran and her son adapt, meeting challenges with unexpected resilience and resolve until their past returns to haunt them. Quindlen renders the intricacies of spousal abuse with eerie accuracy, taking the reader deep within the realm of dysfunctional human ties. However, her vivid descriptions of abuse, emotional disintegration, and acute loneliness at times numb the reader with their realism.
Reviews
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While Black and Blue does bring to light and make the readers aware of the depths and secrets involved in spousal abuse, it is rather difficult to identify with, like, or even feel anything for the protagonist.
Black and Blue explores the life of an abused woman who has attempted to disappear with her son in order to escape her abuser husband. First of all, the book seems to me like a Lifetime Movie, almost cheesy if you will. Half of the things the main character does, you are screaming at her in your head to not do them. She is almost like the dumb girl in every horror movie, who runs up the stairs instead of out the door.
I found all of the characters in the book seem to have much more depth than the protagonist. While I was rooting for her, it was because she was the victim, not because I actually liked or understood her. She seemed weak, in that she really didn't do much of anything to help herself or her situation, either everyone else did everything for her, or things just kind of happened. Yes, it took a lot of guts to make that first phone call that was necessary in order for her to leave her husband, however, that was the only thing she ever really did for herself (pick up the phone). Everything else was done for her, mostly without her knowledge. She was doing something that was so hard to do, she should have felt like a strong woman to me, but she didn't not in the least and I attribute my feelings to poor character development and the actions as well as the non-actions of the main character.
One thing that annoyed me was the constant memory descriptions or flashbacks. While they were integral to the story, they came at the oddest moments. Sometimes it took you a few seconds to figure out if she was speaking her memory to someone else, if it was actually happening in real time, or it was all in her head. In the middle of a conversation with someone she would suddenly reel into a 2 or more page memory in her head and then when the memory was over she would go right back into the conversation. This left me having to go back a few pages to recall what the real-time conversation was even about.
Overall, the basics of the plot were interesting, as were some of the characters in the book. The book does make one aware of the dangers of often hidden spousal abuse; however, it was not captivating. I will not buy, recommend or read this book again.
Black and Blue explores the life of an abused woman who has attempted to disappear with her son in order to escape her abuser husband. First of all, the book seems to me like a Lifetime Movie, almost cheesy if you will. Half of the things the main character does, you are screaming at her in your head to not do them. She is almost like the dumb girl in every horror movie, who runs up the stairs instead of out the door.
I found all of the characters in the book seem to have much more depth than the protagonist. While I was rooting for her, it was because she was the victim, not because I actually liked or understood her. She seemed weak, in that she really didn't do much of anything to help herself or her situation, either everyone else did everything for her, or things just kind of happened. Yes, it took a lot of guts to make that first phone call that was necessary in order for her to leave her husband, however, that was the only thing she ever really did for herself (pick up the phone). Everything else was done for her, mostly without her knowledge. She was doing something that was so hard to do, she should have felt like a strong woman to me, but she didn't not in the least and I attribute my feelings to poor character development and the actions as well as the non-actions of the main character.
One thing that annoyed me was the constant memory descriptions or flashbacks. While they were integral to the story, they came at the oddest moments. Sometimes it took you a few seconds to figure out if she was speaking her memory to someone else, if it was actually happening in real time, or it was all in her head. In the middle of a conversation with someone she would suddenly reel into a 2 or more page memory in her head and then when the memory was over she would go right back into the conversation. This left me having to go back a few pages to recall what the real-time conversation was even about.
Overall, the basics of the plot were interesting, as were some of the characters in the book. The book does make one aware of the dangers of often hidden spousal abuse; however, it was not captivating. I will not buy, recommend or read this book again.
reviewed by orla on November 5, 2006 10:17 PM
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I was aware that woman are abused but not to the extent that this book
enlightned me. It is a very real problem in todays world and should be addressed. I can understand why Oprah picked this for her book club.
reviewed by alexis on November 16, 2006 11:36 PM
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Readers feel the ever-looming presence of Fran Benedetto's abusive husband Bobby almost as much as she and her 10-year-old son Robert, as the duo flee toward a new life in Florida.
Even though Fran and Robert have been given entirely new identities -- thanks to Patty Bancroft and a network of volunteers -- Fran feels that she is simply biding time until Bobby finds them. Although she and Robert slowly begin to make friends and become active in their new hometown, Fran cannot shake the horrific memories, the sorrow over lost opportunities, and the fear that someone will discover her biggest secret.
And, true to real life, Fran must ultimately confront Bobby and her past head-on before the conclusion of this powerful book.
Even though Fran and Robert have been given entirely new identities -- thanks to Patty Bancroft and a network of volunteers -- Fran feels that she is simply biding time until Bobby finds them. Although she and Robert slowly begin to make friends and become active in their new hometown, Fran cannot shake the horrific memories, the sorrow over lost opportunities, and the fear that someone will discover her biggest secret.
And, true to real life, Fran must ultimately confront Bobby and her past head-on before the conclusion of this powerful book.
reviewed by h2o on November 20, 2006 11:30 AM
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I had never read anything by Anna Quindlen before so this was my first book. I will be picking up more of her books as she proves to be a good author. The story was on an excellent subject although it did jump back and forth quite a bit. I am married and have never been in a situation like this character but the author easily made you feel the panic, fear and heart wrenching decision making in a way that made you understand the subject matter at hand with a more attentiveness to the real world.
reviewed by dataworld on November 21, 2006 11:28 AM
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This was a good read. While I am a single woman who has never experienced an abusive relationship, I empathized with the main character in the book and all she went through while trying to start a new life. Was completely gripped by fear of what would happen from the time her son called her ex to the time she returned and found him in her living room...sheeish! I won't give away too much but I would recommend this book to everyone, if for no other reason than to show people the effects of domestic violence on children.
reviewed by kmf on November 26, 2006 10:00 AM