Grace

Rating:
Summary: His saving grace
Review: A story of a marriage. A story of growth. A story of sacrifice. A story of heart. A love story. Elizabeth Nunez encapsulates all of these in her latest novel about the Trinidad-born Justin and Harlemite Sally, who are teetering on the edge of their once marital bliss. Justin, a British literary scholar, is convinced that his wife is seeing someone else. Sally has become despondent, turned from him in bed, and seems to just be going through the motions. She no longer takes pride in reading the great works, instead turning to self-help books and talk shows for enlightenment. In short, things have changed. Determined to hold the family together, Justin refuses to accept the fact that Sally may be leaving him. He endures other trials outside of his marriage in his workplace that get him thinking about what he must do to prevent the ties that bind his family from severing.

Nunez has a beautiful way with language, comforting the reader with her lilting prose. With this language, she brings a vibrance to her characters that is rarely paralleled. Don't expect a highly-charged dramatic plotline. Nunez instead relies on realistic human situations, emotions, and personas to captivate her readers. This book is titled appropriately, as Nunez handles the trying times of her characters with an abundance of grace.

Reviewed by CandaceK
The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Rating:
Summary: For Better or For Worse?I Take Thee As My Spouse!
Review: American Book Award-winning author Elizabeth Nunez's latest novel, Grace, is a moving and poignant story that explores a woman's search for self. Justin Peters and his wife, Sally are an African-American, middle-class couple in distress; both are highly intelligent, educated and successful in their careers but things are amidst in their marriage. Sally is on the verge of turning forty and it appears experiencing mid-life crisis; all she knows is that she needs space from her husband Justin. For her happiness has always been based on a slogan she saw once which said `joy is a learned skill, and that it takes strength to be happy." Justin has observed lately that Sally is still a good wife, a good mother, a good friend and a good role model; but is she happy in her role as wife and mother or does she need more to complete her. When Sally is not forthcoming with why she is unhappy or why she needs space Justin begins to believe it is because she is seeing someone else. Justin is at wits-ends and struggling emotionally because he does not know what to do to make Sally happy and keep their marriage intact. As he surmises why Sally no longer wants him, he comes to the conclusion that she never got over her former lover and believes that therein lies the problem. However, when Sally decides to move out with their four year old daughter, Giselle, and into a girlfriend's apartment, Justin becomes extremely suspicious and suspects that his wife is a lesbian. Will Justin find the TRUTH and the answers to the questions that elude him? Can he create a solution before it is too late? Can he save his marriage?

Nunez paints an exquisitively written novel yet complex portrayal of a marriage in transition. She takes a mundane subject (i.e. marriage) and adds her creative flair to make it a fluid and mesmerizing tale. She writes deftly while inserting lesbianism, racism, segregation, and classism into a story that also speaks truth to marriage, friendship, love and commitment. Grace is well crafted and Nunez does an excellent job of narrating the character's point of view especially Justin's. While Sally was the partner experiencing the crisis it is Justin's male point of view and voice which the reader more closely empathizes with and even identifies with; one cannot help but have compassion for Justin and admire that he is an African-American male who is not ready to give up on his union. I felt like I was in his head and sharing his thoughts as he struggled to figure out how to save his marriage. I also enjoyed the voices of the secondary characters and sub-plots along the way as they gave depth and substance to the novel without feeling forced or out of place. I have only read two novels by Nunez (although she is now one of my favorite writers and I plan to read all of them); however, in both of them she adds rich African American history as a backdrop. In doing so, her stories not only entertain and provide a means to escape but they also teach and enlighten without being preachy or condescending. Nunez is a phenomenal author with an excellent talent for weaving a beautiful and intricate tale while simultaneously offering the reader a great deal of knowledge and outstanding stories. I appreciated that she did not necessarily wrap Grace up in a neat little package but left just enough of an opening to allow me to form my own opinion regarding the ending. I look forward to future novels from this talented author and I highly recommend her to others who enjoy literary reads and stories that empower.

Yasmin
APOOO BookClub

Rating:
Summary: EXTRAORDINARY!!
Review: Ms. Nunez paints a vivid picture of a married couple travelling in two different directions. The angst, confusion, doubt, stress and other complex emotions relative to the modern couple, are all resonated PERFECTLY in this piece of work.
The language is smart and sophisticated... the problems? ordinary and all too relatable.
Married individuals will enjoy this one... especially if you cherish your spouse enough to do ANYTHING to make it right when things go soooo wrong!

Rating:
Summary: Elizabeth does it again!
Review: The above reviews cover this book great so I'll just add a few...

Sally, a primary school teacher on the verge of turning 40 finds herself wanting more. She finds herself feeling like she just exist, a mother, a wife, a friend,a teacher. She struggles with some serious wounds of the past that haunt her. Feeling unfulfilled she wants more, to feel like her life has meaning. Justin starts to open his eyes to his wife once she says" she needs space" he fears her leaving,Justin loves his wife and he also has issues from the past. Sally attends a retreat where can think, find her meaning, her worth. She discovers what it is she needs and where she wants to be..she already has the things she needs and she is the woman that she wants to be.
This was a moving, realistic family drama about love,marriage,finding yourself, letting go and having peace of mind and heart.

Rating:
Summary: Sensitive and memorable
Review: The ending was predictable but I enjoyed the book. The characterizations made me care about the people.

I'm originally from NYC so it was nice to read a Brooklyn story. I also liked that Justin was a Ph.D. It took me into the world of academia - and academic politics. Lastly, I'm 40 (like Sally) and books about midlife crises seem to be finding me!

One of my few criticisms is that the lesbian was portrayed in a negative light.

I would love to see more of an examination of Sally and Anna's friendship in another book, perhaps going back to their teenage years when they first meet each other. I loved the repartee between Anna and Justin. It was definitely a source of entertainment!

The book began and ended within a few months of 9/11. It would have been interesting to have read about how 9/11 affected this family, being that they are from Brooklyn. That's how close I felt to this family while reading the book.

Rating:
Summary: ~Grace~
Review: This is a tale of one woman's struggle to find her life's work while balancing duties as a wife and mother and a man's determination to save his relationship. Though redundant most of the time, it is still a joy to read on how this couple is able to get past their painful experiences and make their marriage whole again.

Rating:
Summary: An observation of a marriage
Review: What happens when you learn the "big T Truth" about your marriage and your spouse? What happens when a husband learns that the "more" a wife is looking for does not necessarily include him, that her search is not about him? Elizabeth Nunez, with all the deftness of the master storyteller that she is, has crafted a tale of a woman searching for her truth and her husband learning his. Sally wants more; Justin thinks she has enough. Sally is blinded by fear; Justin can only see her through his eyes. "Grace" is a commentary on the truth that a marriage is comprised of two individuals, that despite the oneness society places on a couple, the fact remains that the couple is made of two. Sally and Justin, like some couples, approached the point when one part of the couple begins the fight for her individuality. Some people never make the necessary waves in a marriage in order to grab a better hold onto one's individuality; Justin's mother didn't . Sally did. Justin's turning point came when he realized that his mother was surfing those same waves internally.
In this quilt of Sally and Justin's marriage, Nunez also threaded in other patches that either blinded Justin to his big T Truth or opened his eyes to it. Maybe his wife has taken a lover, just not the man he envisioned. Maybe it is jealousy spurring him to say his wife isn't a poet. Maybe he holds back complimenting his student because of his own lack of success in his dream.
Thank you, Elizabeth Nunzez, for doing it again: giving me a story of a man so focused on himself that he thinks those people in his life are just bit players in his Grecian Tragedy, people on the periphery of his drama.

Rating:
Summary: An observation of a marriage
Review: What happens when you learn the "big T Truth" about your marriage and your spouse? What happens when a husband learns that the "more" a wife is looking for does not necessarily include him, that her search is not about him? Elizabeth Nunez, with all the deftness of the master storyteller that she is, has crafted a tale of a woman searching for her truth and her husband learning his. Sally wants more; Justin thinks she has enough. Sally is blinded by fear; Justin can only see her through his eyes. "Grace" is a commentary on the truth that a marriage is comprised of two individuals, that despite the oneness society places on a couple, the fact remains that the couple is made of two. Sally and Justin, like some couples, approached the point when one part of the couple begins the fight for her individuality. Some people never make the necessary waves in a marriage in order to grab a better hold onto one's individuality; Justin's mother didn't . Sally did. Justin's turning point came when he realized that his mother was surfing those same waves internally.
In this quilt of Sally and Justin's marriage, Nunez also threaded in other patches that either blinded Justin to his big T Truth or opened his eyes to it. Maybe his wife has taken a lover, just not the man he envisioned. Maybe it is jealousy spurring him to say his wife isn't a poet. Maybe he holds back complimenting his student because of his own lack of success in his dream.
Thank you, Elizabeth Nunzez, for doing it again: giving me a story of a man so focused on himself that he thinks those people in his life are just bit players in his Grecian Tragedy, people on the periphery of his drama.