by Jane Green
I've really been enjoying reading pre-release books my daughter brings home for me. It makes me almost feel like I am a legit book reviewer. Yes, it is appropriate to laugh here. I'm writing a blog with only 8 (or is it less?) followers and only had five hits on my last review. This has always been for myself.
Saving Grace is another ARC that is scheduled to release on December 30th of this year. It's the third or fourth book I've read by Jane Green and I've become a fan of her writing.
Grace is the beautiful compassionate half of a literary power couple, married to Ted, a popular and in-demand author. She comes from a background she is ashamed of and has kept secret: a mentally ill mother who mentally abused and terrified her. Although she is happy in her marriage and loves her life, it takes no time at all for the reader to see that in her marriage she is repeating her past.
The couple hire Beth, an assistant for Ted who quickly makes herself indispensable to both of them. She is better than perfect. But soon Grace finds herself becoming forgetful and things happen that make her feel she's not quite right. Ted urges her to see a psychiatrist who begins pharmaceutical therapies and Grace continues to spiral downwards. As this is happening, Beth is there to step in for her and keep things running smoothly. Or so it seems.
I was running out of pages to read as I thought the story was coming to the ending that seemed certain. How was Jane going to pull this off? There was a bit of a twist at the end, a different happy ending than what I was expecting. Even so, there was no justice in the end, only another beginning.
Jane Green writes about women my age with similar issues. Although I am far from the glamorous Grace, I see that she just another woman with friends that could be mine and concerns that I also find in my life. The stories are not about young assistants or shop-a-holics. Maybe I'll call it senior chic-lit? I'll continue to seek out her stories. For me, this was a good book that kept me entertained and wanting to know more. Four of five shots!
