The Miracle of Grace

By Kate Kerrigan

2008

First Published

3.69

Average Rating

292

Number of Pages

8H55M

Audio Length

Grace's mother Eileen is a great list maker, so when Grace walks into Eileen's kitchen to drop off a postal package and sees her garish 'To Do' pad on the counter, she thinks nothing of it, until she sneaks a look. There, at No 8, ranked in importance well below bread, telephone bill and bins is 'Tell G I have ovarian cancer, probably terminal'. Grace goes into shock, primarily at the thought that her mother is dying, but also at the fact that her mother simply couldn't tell her to her face. Is their relationship really so bad? Eileen has been brought up in rural Ireland in the 1950s, in thrall to the rules of her community - church first, then husband, then children. So she's had little time for herself and even now finds it impossible to put her own problems and desires to the fore. It is only when Grace confronts her, that she is able to go back over her past, to her own childhood, her early marriage, and the birth of her cherished only daughter to find memories of happiness and unbearable tragedy that have coloured her life forever. The Miracle of Grace is a poignant, but ultimately uplifting, novel that reveals a unique relationship between a mother and her daughter, and tells of a woman whose life has been restricted by the mores of duty, honour, and religion but who yearns for love.

Avg Rating

3.69

Number of Ratings

308

5 STARS

22%

4 STARS

37%

3 STARS

31%

2 STARS

1 STARS

goodreads

Author

Kate Kerrigan

Author · 10 books

Kate Kerrigan is an author living and working in Ireland. Her novels are Recipes for a Perfect Marriage, The Miracle of Grace, Ellis Island, City of Hope, Land of Dreams and The Lost Garden. Kate began her career as an editor and journalist, editing many of Britain’s most successful young women’s magazines before returning to her native Ireland in the 1990’s to edit Irish Tatler. She writes a weekly column in the Irish Mail about her life in Killala, County Mayo – and contributes regularly to RTE's radio's Sunday Miscellany. Her novel, The Dress, published by Head of Zeus was shortlisted at the Irish Book Awards in 2015, and her new novel, It Was Only Ever You, was published in hardback edition, October 2016. www.katekerrigan.ie I devoured this book in one sitting. I LOVED it! Marian Keyes This story is written with so much heart you can hear its beat and feel its pulse in every word on every page. Cecelia Ahern