Blessings

by Anna Quindlen

The word blessing is not only the name of the estate of Lydia Blessing, the richest woman in Mount Mason, but also a metaphor for all that happens because of the abandoned baby girl. Who is this baby, why was she discarded, and why on Lydia’s estate?? The answers to these questions not only drive the plot but also reveal an evolution for Anna Quindlen’s characters.

Lydia Blessing, age 80, leads a privileged but isolated life on her estate, which is both a paradise and a prison, haunted by family secrets over which Lydia broods. Her only other company is Nadine, the Korean-born housekeeper, and Skip Cuddy, the general handyman, who is a parolee.

It is Skip who finds the cardboard box and brings the baby to his ramshackle apartment. He gives the baby the name, Faith, and conceals her existence from Lydia, for a time. And so the story ensues: a rootless inexperienced man and an embittered old widow become the caretakers of Faith. Through their experience with Faith, both characters’ lives evolve and blossom through Quindlen’s moving story. “Blessings explores how the secrets of the past affect decisions and lives in the present; what makes a person, a life, legitimate or illegitimate, and who decides; the unique resources people find in themselves and in a community.” (Book jacket) This is a powerful novel of love, redemption, and personal change by a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist.

Anna Quindlen is a marvelous storyteller whose books hold more than just the printed word. There is depth to her characters that is revealed layer by layer that makes her novels so rich and satisfying. Quindlen writes a for Newsweek bi-monthly. She may be found on the back page of the magazine giving her perspective on events of the day, issues of justice, family, education and work. This experience greatly enhances her novels and the characters that embody her stories.

Anna Quindlen is a recent find for me, and I wonder how I have missed her. Her books are wonderful: the characters are people you know, and the plot is based on real problems facing all of us. You will be rewarded!! Happy Reading!

(by Anne Frame, Guest Columnist)