Black and Blue, by Anna Quindlen

Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There are writers who can handle tough subjects beautifully. Anna Quindlen is one of these writers. In her book Black and Blue, she tackles domestic violence in a way that doesn't sugar-coat it, telling how it affects all those involved.

Fran Benedetto is a nurse and battered wife, married to Bobby, a New York City police officer, and the mother of Robert, a boy who has learned to keep quiet. Fran's life appears normal, at least to those around her. Her secret is the horrific abuse Bobby puts her through, forcing her to leave her job, pack a scant few items, and, with Robert, go into hiding in Florida, changing their names in the process. Now Beth and Robert Crenshaw, they live in a rundown duplex. Fran/Beth is now forced to work as a home health aid, rather than as a nurse, in an effort to stay under the radar. Eventually, though, Bobby finds her, savagely beats her, takes Robert with him, then goes into hiding, himself.

Yet, throughout the book, with its horrible undertone of abuse, Quindlen is able to write Black and Blue as calmly as though writing about the weather. It is in the words she chooses to use and the way she has Fran Benedetto/Beth Crenshaw tell her story that we learn feel and experience the undercurrents of Fran, Bobby, and Robert's lives, as well as the lives effected by being in proximity.

Anna Quindlen's Black and Blue is well worth reading.

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