Blessings

This was my first book by Anna Quindlen and I purposely did not read reviews because I love surprises and I came across many as I read this unabridged audiobook (forgive me for any name misspellings).

The story starts out when two teens drive up to a fancy schmancy estate called "Blessings" and leave a mysterious box.

The newest caretaker, Skip Cutty (Cuttie?), discovers the box. When he sees the beautiful baby girl bundled inside he impulsively decides to keep and care her. Because he's an ex-convict on parole (he's a good guy but was in the wrong place at the wrong time) he knows this is the last thing he should be doing but his heart tells him it is right. So Skip securely straps the baby, who he names Faith, to his chest as he performs his daily tasks and does his best to keep her a secret from the other employees at Blessings.

Mrs. Blessing the brittle, set-in-her-ways dowager of the Blessing estate enjoys spying on her employees with binoculars and is very curious about Skip. Eventually Mrs. Blessings discovers Skip's secret but much to his surprise agrees to keep the baby a secret, even going so far as helping him care for Faith.

Slowly a friendship and trust develop between Mrs. Blessing, Skip and a young lady named Jennifer. The bulk of the story is told from Mrs. Blessing's point of view as she questions many of the choices she made during her long life and regrets the way she lived her life and raised her daughter (their relationship is distant at best). Skip and baby Faith seem to be the catalyst for her reflection.

I enjoyed this book. The writing is absolutely beautiful however I would've enjoyed it more if the story had been told more from the point of view of Skip. Mrs. Blessing wasn't nearly as interesting to me as Skip. Here is this young guy who has stumbled through life with very little love and the lowest of expectations. As expected his childhood friends all turn into hoodlums but Skip wants something more, even though he never knows quite what that may be (to simply be a respectable person maybe?). Instead of using his past as a crutch, as so many with his background tend to do, he decides to work hard and do the best he can. His love for Faith was exquisitely portrayed and lovely to read.

I'm glad I had the opportunity to spend some time with Skip, Jennifer, baby Faith, the cranky housekeeper Nadine and even Mrs. Blessing.

Blessings is the name of a house, an allegorically named house that has been blessed with a picturesque location and some human embellishments - a swimming pond, a handsome barn, a rambling white house with outbuildings, and lots of land with woods, streams and fields.

As the book begins, a teenage mother and her boyfriend leave their newborn off at Blessings, fantasizing that the baby will have a good home with the wealthy occupants.

The baby is found not by the owner, but by the caretaker Skip. Skip has had some troubles, but has found peace in his job at Blessings. The hours are long, the pay is poor, but he enjoys maintaining and improving the estate. The owner is elderly Lydia Blessing, who is easily lost in the past, reflecting on and reinterpreting past events.

Skip takes in the baby, and surprises himself by rapidly ramping up to become a devoted and attentive parent. Mrs. Blessing accidentally finds the baby, and once she is in on the secret takes great pleasure from little Faith and her infant charms.

The theme of Blessings is motherhood. Skip as mother, Mrs. Blessing as mother to her daughter and daughter to her own mother - each mother-child relationship illuminates how, although it's easy to pass the same emotional baggage from generation to generation, the cycle can be broken.

However, much of the story is taken up with Blessings itself and its significance in the lives of its owners. The charm of the place is described over and over again in sunlight, moonlight, rain, sun, spring, summer and fall - possibly the author got a little wrapped up in her own prose. Despite the physical beauty of the place, it was a prison at times for Lydia Blessing and a place of unhappiness for her brother Sunny. In the end, it's just real estate.

I experienced Blessings in audiobook form. It worked well as an audiobook because the reader, Joan Allen, did well with the lyrical descriptive passages, which I might have otherwise skimmed. She didn't do as good a job differentiating the voices for each character, but I would recommend it as an audiobook.

Blessings would make a great movie because it's a simple story that could be pared down to a few characters and a pretty set - picture a young Nicholas Cage as Skip. Most of the characters and action won't stay with you long, but Skip, Mrs. Blessing and Faith will.