Rating: 
Summary: A disappointing read
Review: I was given this book and told I'd love it. Having a close group of friends that I would trust with my life, I was looking forward to a good read. Was I ever disappointed.The switching of voices between the four main characters was confusing and became irritating as there was very little distinction made between them other than their names. I had to keep jumping back to confirm which "Grace" was speaking. It became so tedious that I couldn't even read it during the 1.5 hours I was on line waiting to vote! If you want a good friends-for-life book, stick with the Ya-Ya's!
Rating: 
Summary: An entertaining novel
Review: This book is about four women who are bound by friendship and by shared joys and sorrows. The chapters are narrated by each character in turn and each one gives her unique perspective on what is going on in the lives of her friends and herself. Sometimes it seems that these women are all headed towards destruction of one kind or another and they struggle with problems of infertility, terminal illness, controlling men, and hopeless love affairs. Somehow these problems seem less overwhelming when shared with the other "Saving Graces", and in the end an uplifting spin is put on all of their lives. This is an interesting book with good character development and heartwarming interaction between the main characters.
Rating: 
Summary: MY BEST READ OF THE "SUMMER OF 2000"
Review: The cover of this book (two beach chairs in the sand) is screaming for this to be read at the beach. Since I am known to definitely "judge a book by its cover", I indeed bought it to read on the beach. With the sand at my feet and the sound of waves crashing against the shore, I began a journey with four women who became my friends that summer. The only unfortunate thing is that they are fictional, but who cares -- they delivered what I hoped for -- a "great" beach read. As the story goes, four women form a woman's group and meet every other Thursday at someone's house or in a restaurant, if the person whose turn it is decides that they don't want to cook. Right away I'm wondering how I can get myself invited to join them. They call themselves The Saving Graces and meet over the course of 10 years trading secrets, telling each other their innermost thoughts and being there for emotional support when needed. Even the way they derive their name is adorable -- they hit and saved a dog name Grace -- thus the Saving Graces. Rudy, the beautiful one, is married to the possessive and also very good-looking Curtis. Emma, a red haired beauty, is single and always in search of love. Lee, petite and very pretty, is the organized one and the one they all consider to be the "normal" one. Isabel, the oldest of the group by eight years, is married to Gary and they have a teenage son Terry. Told through the eyes of each of these individual characters, chapter by chapter their story unfolds. You will laugh with them, cry with them, agonize over little things with them and go through some major hurdles with them. You can relate to each of their stories and will probably read and hear some things you've already discussed with your own girlfriends. You even get to go to Cape Hatteras to a house called Neap Tide where the graces go to get away once a year. They have "chosen" each other as friends so the ties that bind are strong. I don't think you can finish this book without wishing you had your own "saving graces" to turn to in times of need. It makes your own friendships become more special and makes some of your own problems become more recognizable and perhaps more trivial as you read, with a lump in your throat, what one of the graces goes through. Although I chose to read this in the summer, this book will work in any season and in any location. I still smile everytime I think about it. It is truly a "book for all seasons".
Rating:
Summary: Women talk...too much about not much
Review: I percieved this to be more women talk about trite, everyday problems that go on an on, and on and on. Nothing new, nothing enlightening. Same old middle adult whining, crying, neediness, divorce, infertility, struggling mental health, searching for approval; it was another shallow soap opera type despite the emotions that were described. My mother would have loved it. This, after Ya Ya Sisterhood and The Red Tent, I've read enough about the delightful gossip, oops, meaningful observations of female [support] groups. Yes, my book discussion group will like it, but I remain among the bored minority and in need of finding something more adventurous in fiction, or with more substance in non-fiction.
Rating:
Summary: I'm their other best friend...
Review: What a great group of women! I loved the opportunity to dip into each Saving Grace's life, learning their secrets and feeling their heartbreaks. Each woman was a pillar for the others, a beacon or a lifeline. Reading their stories made me appreciate the strong bonds of friendship. Ms. Gaffney created real characters that I truly cared about. It did take awhile to get them straight in the beginning; but soon Emma, Rudy, Isabel and Lee became individuals to me, real 3-dimensional people, with unique personalities that were great credits to each other. The perfect instructional for those searching a book on how to be a good friend.
Rating:
Summary: Celebrating Women Friends
Review: Although this book is NOT great literature, it kept me engaged and moved me. The reason, I think, is the essential true-ness of this portrait of women friends and what they mean to one another. (And, of course, it helps that I can identify with the Graces -- their age, their challenges.) I recognized some of my own women friends in the stories of these four women. This is what I'd normally call a great "beach book," but you don't need to wait until summer (despite the picture of the beach chairs on the cover) to pick up this book and get involved with the Saving Graces.
Rating:
Summary: I'm a Wanna Be Saving Grace
Review: I picked up this book because of the picture of 2 chairs on the cover, a subject I can never pass up. What a delightful read! I was the 5th member of this group, I knew these women. It's a story of friendship between unlikely characters, each adding her own personality to the mix. I wanted to shake Rudy and tell her to get a clue about her manipulative husband. GRRRRRR I loved each one in spite of flaws, just like I love my own circle of women friends. Don't pass this one up.
Rating:
Summary: Didn't want it to end!
Review: I picked up this book and I didn't know a thing about it. I was a very lucky person! this is a quick and delightful book. I found myself totally wrapped up in the plot from the 1st page until the last word!
Rating:
Summary: Made me value my own best girlfriends!
Review: This is a great book for women. Meet the four "Saving Graces": Emma, the sarcastic single woman who's had too many unfilling relationships; Rudy, who finds hidden strength as she works to overcome her past; organized "always knows the right answer" Lee, who aches to have a baby; and Isabel, who inspires the others with her inner peace and quiet wisdom. With chapters in each of the character's own voice, we come to know these women, their struggles, and how they use their circle of frienship to cope with Isabel's terminal illness. That these women seemed so real, that there were no easy solutions to some of the problems they tackled, made the book immensely relatable. You may shed a tear or two while you read, but you also will smile and perhaps laugh out loud a few times--I did, especially when Emma uses Susan Sarandon and Goldie Hawn as role models! Read it...then share it with your best friends!
Rating:
Summary: Great book - could not put it down!
Review: This book is a must for every woman who treasures her friends. The book celebrates women and the close bond that only women can understand. Gaffney is a wonderful writer -- her characters come to life! Her vivid storytelling allows the reader to be transported from the armchair to the lives of the four Graces. Many of the lines in the book resonanted with me long after I finished reading the story.
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