The State of Grace

by Catherine Donnelly (Author)

• Used

  Unabridged
  2004

  $3.25

  Grace has always held it together - just - her career in advertising, her two wayward children, and her foreign-correspondent ex, who turns up in his flak jacket at unwelcome moments. But all that is set to change, as her boss unhelpfully reminds her that she is the wrong side of 40, she faces losing her home, and she begins to look at life through the bottom of a wine glass...

  But Grace is much, much, stronger than she thinks she is... In the space of a short few weeks, she discovers the joys of middle-aged smoking, and middle-aged sex, of riding a motorbike, hotwiring a car, and other activities definitely not for the faint-hearted...

  But, more importantly, she discovers the importance of family, of friendship, and that mistakes, no matter how terrible, can be put right. Life is difficult, Grace realises, but in her own unique way, she emerges triumphant...

  `This is that rare commodity, feel-good fiction that actually feels good' The Irish Times

  `Beneath its frothy cappuccino exterior, there beats a heart of gold, and a story told with increasing joie-de-vivre'

  Nuala O'Faolain

• Used

  Paperback
  2004

  $17.80

  46-year-old Grace has always held it together, just - despite her battles with the booze, her estranged daughter, and an ex-husband who keeps reappearing in her life at unwelcome moments. But all that is set to change: in the space of a few weeks, she loses her job at a top Dublin advertising agency, falls spectacularly off the wagon, discovers that her mother is dying, and that her ex has remortgaged the home she thought was hers. But Grace is stronger than she thinks she is. In the space of the same few weeks, she discovers the joys of smoking, joyriding and sex (with a much younger man). She finds friendship in the unlikely form of a Russian with a shady past, embarks on a new and exciting career and repairs her damaged relationship with her daughter. Without realising it, Grace has embraced the principle of Buddha that life is difficult, and in her own unique way, has emerged triumphant.