Preview
  • Blessings

  • By: Anna Quindlen
  • Narrated by: Joan Allen
  • Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (475 ratings)

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Blessings

By: Anna Quindlen
Narrated by: Joan Allen
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Publisher's summary

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.”

©2002 Anna Quindlen (P)2002 Random House Inc., Random House Audio, a Division of Random House Inc.
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Critic reviews

"Immensely appealing." (Publishers Weekly)
"Quindlen writes with power and grace." (The Boston Globe)
"Written with intelligence, clarity, and heartrending directness." (Newsday)

What listeners say about Blessings

Average customer ratings
Overall
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

A terrific listen

Rich characters are exquisitely brought to life by actress Joan Allen; a very enjoyable listen. Neither too heavy nor too lite.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Luminous Descriptions and Wonderful Reading

I been reflecting for several days about Blessings. Was it the excellent reader I enjoyed so much, or the insight on a life lived in a particular time, a particular style? I've pondered the remaining scent of an old house occupied by a woman at the end of her life - a house and grounds filled with memories and natural beauty. The story of this place and the story of how people, without regard to age, can learn and discover inner truths will linger in my mind. I savored Blessings, and enjoy the lingering thoughts of it, like the dust motes disturbed in the Blessings attic, and like the echo of the wildlife at the Blessings pond.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Unique and touching

Maybe partly due to the fact that I am currently a full-time dad, I found this novel especially touching... But in any case I think it is a great story and a wonderful audiobook.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Just Okay

This was an interesting story but I found that it lacked depth and the ending left me unsatisfied. I thought that Joan Allen did a great job of narrating and I did like the characters. I would recommend this story to someone who is looking for an interesting story that you don't have think too hard about.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Nice Blessings

Although this book was a little slow, I did enjoy it. The story was interesting and the descriptions were beautiful. Enjoyed the narrator also. It was just a little slow with all of the memories of the past. I guess I was a little more interested in the present.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A Very Moving Story

I find myself thinking of this book often. You really get to know the characters, and want them to succeed. It is beautifully written and narrated.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A beginning and end.

I waited to the end to find I really enjoyed this book. Slow start but worth it.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Captivating

I exercised more this month just to keep listening!

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Sheer Poetry for the Heart

I love Anna Quindlen! I notice that some reviewers were not as excited as I in discovering her amazingly haunting style but when I am in the "Poet" state of mind there is nothing better, nothing more emotionally revealing, nothing more real than her ambling trips through the hearts and souls of her characters. I'm grateful to be allowed to join. I become the angst, the grieving, the joy, the secrets kept and the secrets shared. I am grateful! Thanks also to Joan Allen who's voice allows me to imbibe the words without having to focus on the reader. What a gift.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic

I love "longitudional" novels where you get to know characters from the present time and flashbacks from the past. This novel gives a wonderful flavor for what life was like for a very strong woman of privilege who comes of age during World War II. In present time, she finds herself puzzled by single parenthood, casual language and the trappings of modern life...until a tiny baby teaches her again about love. The book is simply fascinating and the characters are rich and believable. I walked around with my iPod around my neck for days...a lovely boook, beautifully narrated.

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