What readers think of Black and Blue, plus links to write your own review.

Excellent story, great characters.

I love this story. It brings back a lot of terrible memories from my previous marriage such as the abuse (physically and mentally) that I endured.

I love this novel so much. I was kinda forced to read it for school but I fell in love with it. I read it in one day and I could not put it down. LOL. It balances fear, happiness, hatred and love and yet somehow, you end up in tears... I love it

Brooklyn, New York: drugs, theft, vandalism, the work of the valiant Brooklyn P.D. keeping the city safe from all the dangers. But what if one of the heroic officers has a secret of his own and no one knows except for his wife and his son? Friends and family become suspicious, but no one says a word. Have you figured out the officer’s dirty little secret yet?

Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen is about the life of Bobby, Frannie, and Robert Benedetto, the perfect family on the outside; however, take a deeper look and you see that they have an awful secret. Bobby is always angry about something; he has such a short fuse. Frannie never knows how to please him, and normally gets the brunt of his anger. Yes, Bobby Benedetto, Brooklyn Police Officer beats his wife. Finally, through a spousal abuse activist named Patty Bancroft, Frannie takes the most daring step she will ever take. Through a secret band of volunteers, Frannie takes her son Robert and escapes taking virtually nothing.

[edited for plot spoilers]

I loved this book; I did everything from laughing to crying. I think that Frannie/ Beth is extremely brave to do what she did, she did what many women never have the guts to do. Though she lived in fear every day that her husband would find her, kill her, and take her son.

I really enjoyed this book. This book really showed me that relationships are not all lovey dovey there are some women out there that experience abuse and just can't find a way to leave that kind of life style. They are afraid to do anything because they don't know the out come and they just don't feel like getting beaten again. This book is a really good book its 5 thumbs up.. :)

I really really loved this book...I've been through similar occurrences and I could relate.

Quindlen's writing is both fluid and powerful. In Black and Blue she evokes a realistic portrayal of the cycle of violence, which occurs both within a relationship based on power and control (tension builds, violence occurs, "honeymoon phase," tension builds again), and over the generations as children grow up internalizing what they see their parents do. More than that, Quindlen creates a multi-dimensional character in Frances Benedetto, with all the real inner conflict of a thoughtful and deeply-feeling human being. Black and Blue helps to remind the reader that the choices involved in domestic violence are not simple or easy. It's a beautifully, painfully realistic novel.

I Think that this book is very good, it gives women an positive outlook on a bad relationship