Grace
by Paul Lynch
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Pub Date Sep 07 2017 | Archive Date Sep 01 2017
Description
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 Grace in men’s clothing and casts her out. When her younger brother Colly follows after her, the two set off on a life-changing odyssey in the looming shadow of the Great Famine.
To survive, Grace will become a boy, a bandit, a penitent and finally, a woman. A meditation on love, life and destiny, Grace is an epic coming-of-age novel, and a poetic evocation of the Irish famine as it has never been written.
A Note From the Publisher
Advance Praise
‘A beautifully written novel, with a haunting story and deep echoes of the Ancients’ Edna O’Brien, author of The Little Red Chairs
‘Lynch makes the page sing like the old masters’ Philipp Meyer, author of The Son
'Lynch’s wonderful third novel follows a teenage girl through impoverished Ireland at the height of the Great Famine…Lynch’s powerful, inventive language intensifies the poignancy of the woe that characterizes this world of have-nothings struggling to survive.’ Publishers Weekly (starred review)
‘Grace is fierce wonder, a journey that moves with the same power and invention as the girl at its center. What Paul Lynch brings to these pages is more than mere talent--it's a searing commitment to story and soul' Affinity Konar, author of Mischling
‘A mesmerizing, incandescent work of art. It’s all things together – a tragedy, an adventure, a romance, a coming-of-age, a searing exposition of historical truths; an interrogation of the nature of time and existence. Above all it’s a perfect story' Donal Ryan, Booker-nominated author of The Spinning Heart
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781786073051 |
| PRICE | £12.99 (GBP) |
Links
Featured Reviews
Patrick O, Reviewer
This is by far the best book I’ve read all year. I want to press it into the hands of everyone who loves books. The language, the lyricism, the landscape. Grace! Colly! - I never wanted it to end. It’s a heartbreaking coming-of-age tale, following 14-year-old Grace across Ireland in search of work and sustenance during the Irish Famine, having been cast out by her pregnant mother.
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The language is sometimes challenging, though never unreadable, and there are passages of incredible beauty and insight. The landscape is almost a character itself, so prominently does it feature, along with hunger, darkness and light.
It is above and beyond everything I have read this year. Some people will pick it up and dislike it, but for me, this is the most beautifully written, lyrical, heartfelt and heartbreaking story I have read in a long time and I know that it’ll be a long time before I read another book like it.
As far as I know, this book has been nominated for no prizes, and has received little mainstream press, and it deserves ALL the prizes and all the press.
And those endpapers!
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