Grace: A Novel

purchased as a Christmas gift and recipient seems pleased

I did finish this book but found so many of the events unnecessarily depressing and bleak for no reason. Would notrecommend

This luminous novel is narrated by a dead girl. Naomi is 17 years old. She is a Black slave who led a short, cruel life. She died giving birth to her daughter-but her spirit lingers on earth because she cannot bear to leave her. The book alternates between Naomi's memories and her daughter's life as she watches over her. This novel is emotional, deeply touching, and horrifying when it describes the cruelties of slavery. What struck me the most, however, was the author's amazing use of words to paint descriptions so real that the reader can almost see, hear, smell, taste, and feel along with Naomi. A novel written like poetry, but at the same time gritty and true to life. A remarkable book.

This book was difficult to follow--- I never finished it as couldn't follow a story --- I really didn't enjoy this book at all--

I had a little trouble following who was who the way the chapters and timelines were set, but I got the core of the story and the amazing valor lived. I loved the writing and deeply poetic descriptions of so many emotions, actions, scenery, smells, thoughts. Wonderful and worthwhile reading; I feel the need to stand and salute those valiant lives. Kind of in a daze. Well. Moving on, now I need to read whatever else she’s written!

This was beyond breathtaking all along. I became so enmeshed in the characters. The skipping from one time frame to another was fascinating and done iǹ a way that was easy to keep up with. For fans of historical fiction, the understanding of the descent of madness, the ferocity and desperation of a first love in any form, and the interactions of humanity in all it's complicated forms, this is above and beyond perfection for me. Thank you Ms. Deon for this experience! 💖🙏

Ummm , it seems that I am in a small minority with this review. I really wanted to like this book. I had read so many great reviews and historical is my favorite genre. It was an interesting concept. The book is narrated by a mother and daughter. However, (and this is not a spoiler, you learn it on the first page), the mother is dead. Interesting, but for most of the book I was never sure which woman was narrating. As I said, this was confusing to me. To make matters worse, one man was in both women's lives, but he had different names depending on who was telling the story. At this point, I'm not even sure that is right. I felt that a lot of the spoken language wasn't really used in that era. There was an angry Jewish madam. I never understood why she was so angry, or why she did the things she did. It took me weeks to read this because I'd often get so confused that I would have to stop reading and just walk away. When I picked it back up, I'd often re-read it, hoping for clarification. Didn't work. I will say that the ending was great. I just wish that everything leading up to it was as good.