Grace - A powerful story about discovering your purpose and finding true happiness.

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A poetic tribute with many rich layers of meaning, Grace is narrated by the spirit of Naomi. Using this literary device, the novel is told in flashes over the course of both Naomi’s life and memorable, if sometimes, horrific moments of Josey’s.

Where to begin…how about with Grace herself, a fiery little she-devil that was the center of this story. A young girl on the cusp of womanhood thrust out into a hard and cruel world by a family in need, told to pretend to be a boy to maximize on whatever income or goods available to her. Her mom basically telling her to be this to get us that and hurry because we are down to nothing. WARNING: I apologise and don't mean to harm or hurt anyone with my review and I hope it does not offend anyone! Honesty ... this is a phenomenal debut novel.......a tribute to the ghosts that haunt our American History. finita un’ora e mezza dopo, a pagina novantasette, quando ho finalmente tirato il fiato e l’incantesimo di quell’incipit fulminante, che mi aveva incatenata alle pagine, stava allentando un poco la sua presa. This leads to Grace also asking questions about God, the church elders and even her school teachers. About whether they are following God in the right way or not.

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While I was not aware of this until after I read this, “Grace” is the sequel to Paul Lynch’s ”Red Sky in Morning.” It is a lovely read as a stand-alone novel, although I do now plan to read ”Red Sky in Morning” because this was wonderful. The product of this union is Josey, whose white skin and blonde hair mark her as different from the other slave children on the plantation. Having been taken in as an infant by a free slave named Charles, Josey has never known her mother, who was murdered at her birth. Her writing has appeared in American Short Fiction, Buzzfeed, LA Review of Books, The Rumpus, The Feminist Wire, Asian American Lit Review, Rattling Wall and other places. Grace and her family are part of a small religious community. Her Uncle has just been made an elder. A special role in their church and it is a time of celebration. But sadly for Grace, she seems to sin despite her good intentions. Her school project sparks outrage from their leader Mr Gosper. It sets in motion a chain of events that will shake the very foundations of Grace’s world. Sometimes the arrangement of the words just didn't make sense to me and there were harsh and swear words in here that I was not pleased to read.

Morris wrote a number of feature film and telemovie screenplays, including The Other Facts of Life and Second Childhood, both produced by The Australian Children's Television Foundation. The Other Facts of Life won an AWGIE Award for the Best Original Children's Film Script. I believe children will be able to relate to Grace, not from her up bringing but from the frustration of having grown ups ignore them or not listen to their view or opinions. I would not recommend this for those under eleven unless they have quite a broad view of the world, otherwise, be prepared for a lot of 'why' questions. Eleven-year-old Grace has been brought up in a very strict religious community where questions and individual thinking are not allowed. This has become a problem for Grace as she is starting to grow up and be curious about life. She is also stubborn and independent and this is absolutely frowned upon by the Elders in her community.This at times reads like an epic tale (fairy tale perhaps) of a girl who disguises herself as a boy, always just escapes starvation by a hair, survives violence, and just keeps on. She manages to walk from Donegal in the northwest of the country, to Tipperary. But this is not a story of magical realism at all. It is instead a stunning description of the landscape of the famine and an adolescent girl, who again and again escapes death. This novel is never relentless, and it avoids being bleak. Lynch is able to do this by not repeating endless descriptions of the devastation. Instead, he focuses on single characteristics of a scene, such as the description of entering a village where Grace notes the pervasive silence. In another, the eerie scene of a dead family standing in a shop doorway as if they're waiting for it to open. The small group of starving locals who show up for the obligatory preaching by a Protestant evangelical, and the 3 young children in the group appearing to have no clothing except mud. We’re all born empty. Got an empty place inside us that needs to be filled by something real. And if you believe as I believe, it’s the seat of God. Love. God is love. But for these needy bodies, almost anything will do.”

I've never read anything by Morris Gleitzman before (although Two Weeks With the Queen sounds quite familiar) and his books are ones that I'd probably miss on shelves because I think they are targeted at a younger age than what I am and would read. I'm really thankful to the lovely J at Puffin though, for asking me to review Grace, because it's fantastic. Definitely something I'll be recommending for the younger year groups at my school! This book is grim. There is little opportunity to lighten the tone. It is a mix of beautiful writing and horrific subject matter. If you dislike profanity, you will want to stay away. The ghost of the brother is constantly chattering with a stream of invective, mostly calling Grace misogynistic names. This got old after a short while, and it goes on for three-fourths of the book. It evokes a miserable time in Irish history in vivid terms. For me, the expressive writing is the best part and the reason I would read another book by this author. There were lots of beautiful passages, and the story was different from anything I’ve read about slavery, especially once you read of how and why Naomi ran away to the brothel (no spoilers here but it’s not something that can be easily figured out, and it’s somewhat badass). And I think that is the strongest selling point of this book outside of the beautiful cover: it tells a very uncommon and unconventional story based in slavery.All the things you can see in a moment. She thinks, there is truth after all to Colly’s story. She thinks, the last you will see of Mam is her shadow. She thinks, take with you a memory of all this. A sob loosens from the deepest part and sings itself out.” It has taken me quite a few weeks to finish Grace and I’ll admit I did struggle with it at times, finding myself skimming the last few chapters. There always seemed to be another book that was more demanding of my attention or more in tune with my reading mood. However, I have now finished it and the book is certainly notable for its lyrical, poetic language, imaginative metaphors and at times impressionistic style (most clearly illustrated in the chapter entitled ‘Crow’ which approaches stream of consciousness). Empty houses and overcrowded graveyards become the landscape of her journey. Beggars and thieves her countrymen.