Title
|
Grace: A Novel
|
Author
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Richard Paul Evans
|
Publisher
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Simon and Schuster, October 2008
|
ISBN
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1416550038, 9781416550037
|
Length
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336 pages, Hardcover
|
I picked up Grace at the
Sunderbhai Hall book festival where you get books for INR
100/kilo... I'm not kidding. From among this long table filled with
books, mostly dark, broody and cynical, I got Grace...a lovely, promise-filled
title. With the following premise:
In the winter
of 1962, Eric and his younger brother, Joel, help a runaway teenager by hiding
her in a den in their snow-filled back garden. The diminutive Grace, swamped by
an over-large coat and huge, almond-shaped brown eyes, captivates the two boys.
But she is vulnerable, and her arrival will change everything-not just the
coming of Christmas, but Eric’s entire life.
And it didn't disappoint. No way. Grace was
just as beautiful as it (and she) seemed. This is what I wrote immediately
after reading the book:
I feel full and warm in my heart after a long
time...something I associate with a beautiful book. These words seem too cold
to describe the warmth and secret gladness tinged with tears I feel for
Grace.
And yep, that's how you're going to feel too...it's
too lovely for words...that bubbly feeling inside of wanting everybody to feel
like you!
Eric narrates the story in 2006 after reading The
Little Match Girl to his grand-kids brings him to
tears...reminds him of a real match girl he knew. A girl who was...
My
first kiss. My first love. She was a little match girl who could see the future
in the flame of a candle. She was a runaway who taught me more about life than
anyone has before or since. And when she was gone my innocence left with her.
Grace.
Found in a dumpster trying to grab something to
eat. Behind the McBurger Queen. Where Eric finds her. Learns about her running
away from home. Offers their den (with the indoor tap and a pin-up girl in a
red swimsuit) as a temporary place to live, (“I have a girl hidden in
the den.”Joel shook his head, “You wish”).Unknowingly giving Grace a place
in his heart as well, (“You’re my hero.”“ Anytime”, I said. Of
course I wasn't about to win any award but when you’re a fourteen
year-old boy with acne and a bad haircut, it felt good to be somebody’s hero.)Trying
to escape his mother’s notice (How do you explain having a girl with you in the
bathroom??!).Playing hooky from school. Placating his father, who is paralysed
due to Guillain-Barre syndrome (but will recover).Learning how a good friend is
someone you can lean on. And love (Is a birthday gift worth 27 dollars worth
the kiss you get in return??Sure is!).And trust. And make sacrifices and take
risks for. And even betray (Why DID Grace leave home?). And forgive.
Grace is
like hot chocolate (and I'm hungry!)...it warms, delights, surprises,
cheers and reassures. Especially when it's cold!
Grace is
something you’d definitely want everyone to read...and feel.*moment of
solitudinous silence*
A four-point-fiver I'll whole-heartedly recommend!
if only i'd read this review earlier today, i would gotten my hands on it by now! thank you, thank you, talitha, for this heartfelt review. i so wish i could read it on christmas day, but i'll do what i can to get this as soon as i possibly can. <3
ReplyDeletewow! amazing review!!! loved the way you wrote this!! arpita is right. this is a must-have book
ReplyDeleteGo go get it...my family doesn't know how lucky they are to have the book in the house!
ReplyDeleteAll of this sounds beautiful. The book, the review, and especially you, Talitha.
ReplyDeleteYou just made this big grin appear on my face...I'm a praise junkie!
ReplyDeleteThanks Urmi!:)
totally Grace-ful read and review !
ReplyDeletefull points :D
Nimmi,you're here!
ReplyDeleteWas wondering where you'd gone...glad you liked it!:)