Saving Grace

by Ciara Geraghty

[Leah]

After her brother, Patrick, dies in a tragic accident, Grace O’Brien finds that her life is spiralling out of control. Things come to a head when, after a night out, Grace wakes up the next morning besides Bernard O’Malley, the newewst member at the firm where Grace works. Matters are made worse because Grace is actually in a long-distance relationship with Shane. As Grace tries to forget about her one-night stand with Bernard, she finds herself more and more attracted to him. Grace also tries to forget about what happened in Spain, can she find the strength to move on?

I’d never really heard of Ciara Geraghty’s debut novel Saving Grace up until a little while ago. All of the book review sites I frequent started raving about this fantastic debut novel and I finally got around to picking up a copy for myself. Once it arrived, courtesy of Amazon, I couldn’t stop looking at the pretty cover. I finally started reading this six days ago and only just finished it today.

The book starts with a prologue telling us exactly what happened in Spain that fateful day in 2004. I knew from reading the blurb on the back of the book that it was something to do with Grace’s brother and we learn early on exactly why she feels so much guilt towards her brothers tragic accident. We then come back to the present, 2005, just as Grace is waking up after a big night out. Turns out she isn’t in bed alone, she’s actually in bed with Bernard O’Malley who has just started working at the firm where Grace works. It’s a very quick opening to the book and I found myself sucked in straight away. The book zips along very well and I really enjoyed getting into Grace’s world.

As Grace deals with her guilt over her brother and her guilt over cheating on her boyfriend, Shane, I felt nothing but sympathy for her. It’s clear that what happened to Patrick affected her deeply and it was as if she was just stuck in a rut. It didn’t help that her mother quite clearly seems to blame her for what happened and her boyfriend, Shane, also avoids any mention of the incident. Jeremy Kyle would wholly recommend they see a counsellor, I’m sure! I could see that Grace wanted to talk about what happened but the people she wanted to talk about it with didn’t want to reciprocate that. It means that when Grace and Bernard end up talking with each other I end up loving the interaction between them as they were both incredibly similar, both having lost someone close to them recently. Their interaction was so easy to read and there seemed to be no embarrassment after the incident right at the beginning of the book.

The characters are all very well thought on in Saving Grace. Grace is a fantastic heroine; she’s hugely flawed and admits that, she loves her food and her guilt is overwhelming, which only endeared her to me more. The book is told entirely from Grace’s perspective so we learn a lot of what she’s thinking as the book progresses. It’s often sad reading but enjoyable all the same if that makes sense. Bernard O’Malley was a fantastic character. I loved the fact he was a nerd and his clothes didn’t seem to fit him properly. He was miles nicer than Shane, Grace’s supposed boyfriend, who throughout the entire book, spent his time putting Grace down and being quite cruel towards her. I hated him the first time he came into the book and just wanted rid of him as soon as possible. Grace’s family were all fantastic, Jane and Clare her sisters seemed incredibly nice and I adored Grace’s granny Mary and would have loved to have seen more of her. Grace’s mother seems very cold towards Grace right up until the end of the book and while I could see why, I could also see how that made Grace feel. Grace’s friend were all fantastic in particular Caroline, who is also Shane’s sister, as well as Ciaran, who Grace sees regularly at work and who spends a lot of time chatting with Grace and making her coffee.

The writing in the book is truly fantastic. Ciara Geraghty definitely has her own unique style in the way she writes. The book, although it dealt with some serious issues, had warmth throughout and it regularly made me smile. Geraghty’s writing style is quite quirky as Grace regularly makes numerous to-do lists and I thought that might hinder the book but it really didn’t, it just made the book more unique. The book also features letters from Patrick which were sent to Grace and it really felt as if Patrick was a real, living character rather than someone who died a year earlier. We also flashback to that fateful holiday as Grace recalls conversations, and moments from that time. My only criticism of the book is that Grace, when talking to her sister Clare, references a conversation she and her mother had in Spain after the accident and we never actually learn what was said during that conversation. It seemed important when Grace mentioned it but obviously not important enough for Geraghty to tell us what was said during that conversation.

Saving Grace is an immensely enjoyable read and I’m sure I would have finished it sooner if I wasn’t so busy this past week. I can absolutely see why everyone is raving about Geraghty and calling her the new Marian Keyes. I don’t actually agree with that sentiment; not because Ciara Geraghty isn’t as good as Marian but because Ciara has her own unique voice and doesn’t really need to be compared to Marian Keyes. I look forward to Ciara Geraghty’s next novel and hope it’s just as fantastic as Saving Grace which I wholly recommend you read if you haven’t already!