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Summary: The Saving Graces
Review: A novel about 4 women who meet for dinner and support over the years, this book attempts to recount the story in each of their voices. Unlike The Poisonwood Bible, another summer release which manages this difficult literary trick artfully, The Saving Graces never quite finds the womens' personalities.An easy read for the beach or plane.
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Summary: Madame Butterfly Goes to Washington
Review: Perceptive to how the myriad of feelings we humans possess becomes tightly wound from the girdles of our souls to the crests of our hearts like the reverberant and brooding strings of a vintage cello, Patricia Gaffney has composed a masterful orchestration in this her magnificent opus THE SAVING GRACES -- a billowing drama of operatic proportions arousing the improbable images of Maria Callas, Kiri te Kanawa, Joan Sutherland, and Sarah Brightman as castaways on the Isle of Suburbia singing lamentations on a theme of fleeting camaraderie.
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Summary: A Handbook on Friendship for ALL Women
Review: This was the hardest book I've ever read. I kept putting it down to compose myself. When I'd finally finished it, I not only cried, but it made me want to get out my address book to re- kindle old friendships that I'd let fade. Ms. Gaffney has created a handbook that ALL women should use as a guideline for there friendships. Truely a gifted writter, and I look forward to reading her other works. Thank You Ms. Gaffney.....
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Summary: 3 and 1/2 stars,.....fast, fun and furious!!
Review: The saving Graces is a story about four women who are best friends . They get together once a month for dinner and discussions on their lives, and to keep the spirit of true friendship alive. The great part of this book was that they really did care about each other with the deep love of friends who have endured the good and the bad times with each other. Another wonderful part was that all the men weren't bad. It was balanced in that respect, definitely not a male-bashing book. This was a good read with laugh out loud as well as teary portions. At first I didn't think the characters were very easy to identify with, or relate to but you want to know more about each one's situation. This is not like the YaYA Sisterhood story but has been called by several friends a "good girlfriend book".
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Summary: Wow! What a great book about FRIENDSHIP!
Review: My friend shoved THE SAVING GRACES in my hands after her flight from New York City to San Francisco... She read this book in less than 6 hours and she was trying to get just about anyone to read it. She loved it so much that she even tried to make her boyfriend read this book. Although, he wasn't too thrilled for a book that was about friendship between four very distinct and memorable women. And I'm so glad she did. I love this book- about four women facing everyday (and some not so everyday) issues- marriage, infidelity, children, parenting, sickness and even death. But moreover, about friendship between women. Friendship that is real and honest... which can be sometimes very sensitive. The Saving Graces are about four women who has been in a women's group for the past 11 years. But, more importantly, they are best friends. There's Emma, Rudy, Lee and Isabel. They are so different from each other and flawed in their own way, yet they complement each other just perfectly. I think we all know someone like The Saving Graces. *We* could be one of the Saving Graces. Patricia Gaffney, puts all their good & bad traits in such beautiful words... We find out about their secrets and insecurities, their successes and happiness... many of which, I was able to identify with. These women are called The Saving Graces, but in fact, it is their willingness to love and share the grace that they end up saving one another. And the flow of this "grace" starts from the very beginning and till the very end. I felt that the honest truth about friendship is told in this book. It's a wonderful read. And I definitely, did NOT want the book to end. I think I was either choked up or actually in tears the last half of the book. Only if we all had women's groups like The Saving Graces!
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Summary: Loved it!
Review: This book got me from the very first page. I loved 3 of the 4 ladies, and even grew to like the 4th! I could relate to each one of them and felt like I was part of their group. I laughed and cried (a lot) and hated to see it end. I can't wait to read Gaffney's latest, "Circle of Three".
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Summary: A Lovely "Chick" Book...
Review: I won't reiterate the basic plot, since it's been done in previous reviews...
I've always been partial to first-person narrative, so this book was right up my alley. Gaffney was very effective in producing a unique voice for each of the characters. I was able to relate to each of them in a different way: Emma's cynicism, Rudy's insecurity, Isabel's peacefulness, and Lee's practical sense. I also enjoyed how these differences affected the characters' interactions with each other.
At the same time, I felt that some parts were cliched in this book - which resulted in predictibility at points.
This is definitely a book for anyone who appreciates stories about relationships, friendships, and women helping women. I would definitely read another book by Patricia Gaffney.
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Summary: Bad cover, but you know what they say....
Review: Desperate to find a book at the airport and faced with a slim selection on a tiny twirling book rack, I picked up "The Saving Graces," thinking it looked incredibly mainstream, baby-boomer and romance-novelly. Well, I couldn't have been more wrong. This was a fast, absorbing read about a group of women I really didn't want to say goodbye to. (Truly a Ya-Ya's for the north -- a telling scene includes a boy not throwing up on a woman's bare feet, but on her Ferragamos instead.) It usually takes me weeks to finish a book, but I finished "The Saving Graces" in three days. My only two problems: I didn't think the characters' voices were distinct enough from each other. Sure they had totally different personalities, but I kept having to reflect on which character was which with which problem. Also, I was very bummed that there was no segue from the end of the book to the first chapter of Gaffney's next novel, "Circle of Three." At least give me a blank page before expecting me to just jump to an entirely different story. Otherwise, no complaints, just three enjoyable, enlightening days with a fun group of women friends.
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Summary: A great story about witty, wise, willful, wonderful women
Review: I was happy to see so many "thumbs up" reviews of this wonderful book. The story was fascinating, the characters enjoyable, and like others have said, I found a piece of each one within me. My three year old daughter couldn't understand how I could laugh and cry at the same time. I look forward to passing it on to her one day, and hope she receives as much pleasure from it as I did.
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Summary: A 'beach book' that never made it to the beach!
Review: I started to read The Saving Graces shortly before our scheduled vacation trip to the beach. The book never made it to the beach. What started out as a romance-type novel, a genre I dislike, became a compelling read and I finished before we left for vacation at the beach. Four very different women provide love, support and tolerance for each other as their lives move through emotional, psycholgical problems, infertility, an affair with a married man and terminal breast cancer. The reader comes to understand the true meaning and value of friendship. My only hope is that this book doesn't become a movie. A similar book, Circle of Friends became a horrible movie. Smethings are just meant to be read and enjoyed. Not to become a Hollywood production!
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