Black and Blue

This book is well written and researched. To those women who have lived and suffered through abusive relationships, left and attempted to start over especially with a child know it is extremely difficult. This story gave insight into the life of a battered women and how she feels through the experience before and after. A Must Read for All.

This book was a "can't put down book". It was heart wrenching and made me shed tears!

This book was amazing. I read it overnight... I had a really hard time attempting to put it down. It was really captivating.

If you have never been an abused woman who is running from her abuser, it will give you an idea that no one can truly leave their past behind them. You will always look over your shoulder and question everything everyone does and/or says.
This is a hold on the edge of you seat to the bitter end.

I loved this book!!! I could not put it down. I went to Cuba and had to bring it with me, and I read it on the beach and loved every chapter. This book is for everyone.

Black and Blue is a gut-wrenching tale of how Fran Benedetto tries to overcome her past and start a new life. For 18 years she remained in an abusive marriage for the sake of her son, but now things have changed. She enlists the help of a secret organization to help her escape, and create a new identity. Uprooting her son, to a new state she tries to build a new life, always living in fear of her husband finding her. This is an amazing story of how one woman overcame all odds and did not let her husband ruin her life.

While this book couldn't compare with the excellence of Quindlen's One True Thing, it does strike a similar chord throughout. The characters seem real and several times throughout the book it was easy to imagine how they must have felt running away from their lives and the hands of a brutal man - Fran's husband.
The book also raises some interesting issues captured on tv magazine shows about the work and goals of the underground organizations that help abused women and their children leave their marriages. While Quindlen's main character, Fran, clearly was abused, the conduct of the underground leader was questionable at times. That is likely an element of the story that would not have been worked in lest the author not had a journalism background. Unlike other authors, Quindlen was able to make the movement from past to present seamless, though easily discernable. I was never confused at all as can happen when this technique is used. Overall, a good read, but not Quindlen's most engaging work. A little too Harlequin "romancey" at times.

I read this book at a time when my life needed a sense of direction. This book didn't give me one but I realized that being single isn't bad. My life is good, I'm healthy, and I have the best family and friends a girl could ever hope for.
This lady and her son gave up so much to stay safe, and it failed. I cried for them when he found them, then I put the book down. I awoke in the middle of the night with a strong urge that they wouldn't be O.K. unless I finished the book.
AWESOME