Grace

by Paul Lynch

Book Overview

From the Booker Prize-winning author of Prophet Song, a sweeping, Dickensian story of a young girl on a life-changing journey across nineteenth-century Ireland on the eve of the Great Famine.

Early one October morning, Grace's mother snatches her from sleep and brutally cuts off her hair, declaring, "You are the strong one now." With winter close at hand and Ireland already suffering, Grace is no longer safe at home. And so her mother outfits her in men's clothing and casts her out.

When her younger brother Colly follows after her, the two set off on a remarkable odyssey in the looming shadow of their country's darkest hour. The broken land they pass through reveals untold suffering as well as unexpected beauty. To survive, Grace must become a boy, a bandit, a penitent and, finally, a woman -- all the while afflicted by inner voices that arise out of what she has seen and what she has lost.

Told in bold and lyrical language by an author who has already been called "one of his generation's very finest novelists" (Ron Rash, author of The Risen), Grace is an epic coming-of-age novel and a poetic evocation of the Irish famine as it has never been written.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 031631630X
• ISBN13: 9780316316309
• Release Date: July 2017
• Publisher: Little Brown and Company
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.8"

Customer Reviews

Beautifully written about a time in Ireland most Americans wonder about

Grace by Paul Lynch History books tell us most of our Irish ancestors fled to America in the late 1800s because a fungus-like organism ruined three-quarters of the island’s food supply. More than a million starved to death and another million sailed away. If you want to know more about that event you need to read Grace by Paul Lynch, a Dublin native. That’s for the history lover. I am also a word lover, and as such, I’m compelled to underline any surprising or thought-provoking turn of phrase. But I had to put my pen aside for this book. My hand got tired. Lynch’s lines are magic. They reach out to grab your brain and plunk it in a character that will take you on a terrifying and fascinating journey. If you are a man you will become a girl. If you are a woman, you will understand men a wee bit more. You will learn to read without the assistance of quote marks, and it is most freeing. But the real joy of this book is Lynch’s indigenous and tangible language. For a few hours you will BE in the Irish countryside in the 19th century. It’s a quick read in the best sense because every line is infused with meaning…so much so that you will want to read many lines twice to see more clearly what he is showing you and pondering those lines will only spur you on. Warning: Toward the end of the book you’ll find four black pages. It’s not a printing error. Turn them slowly. You will need them to catch your breath before ending the adventure.