From the publisher:
Bernadette, Eleanor Oliphant, Rosie, Ove . . . meet Amazing Grace Adams, the funny, touching, unforgettable story of an invisible everywoman pushed to the brink―who finally pushes back.
Grace Adams gave birth, blinked, and now suddenly she is forty-five, perimenopausal and stalled―the unhappiest age you can be, according to the Guardian. And today she’s really losing it. Stuck in traffic, she finally has had enough. To the astonishment of everyone, Grace gets out of her car and simply walks away.
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Grace sets off across London, armed with a £200 cake, to win back her estranged teenage daughter on her sixteenth birthday. Because today is the day she’ll remind her daughter that no matter how far we fall, we can always get back up again. Because Grace Adams used to be amazing. Her husband thought so. Her daughter thought so. Even Grace thought so. But everyone seems to have forgotten. Grace is about to remind them . . . and, most important, remind herself.
Tales of extraordinary women abound, but the title character of Littlewood’s debut novel is a seemingly relatable everywoman. The timeline bounces around between the Grace of her 20s, 30s, and 40s, and the story begins as Grace spends the day trying to deliver a birthday cake to Lotte, her estranged 16-year-old daughter. She abandons her car in gridlock and starts hoofing it, taking off on a deeply personal pilgrimage of sorts. Her journey takes her to the bakery where she ordered the overpriced cake to an incident with the police and other assorted encounters. Grace is obviously troubled, and her journey to her daughter is also one of insight into her own life. Perimenopause rears its ugly head, divorce seems imminent, and unemployment all contribute to what appears to be Grace’s break with reality, but it is all underscored by the worst tragedy a parent can face. Although the story seems inconsistent at times, it only enhances the surreality that is Grace’s life. Despite this, we can’t help but root for her.
Verdict: An utterly charming debut, sure to appeal to readers who loved Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman and Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple.
©Library Journal, 2023
9/2023 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
AMAZING GRACE ADAMS by Fran Littlewood. Henry Holt and Co.; International Edition (September 5, 2023). ISBN: 978-1250857019. 272p.
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