Book: Illuminating Gracie
Author: Lisa C. Temple
Release date: June 8th 2013
Rating:
As an old woman's lifeless body lies on a cold stone floor, her soul stands before an angel who offers her a miraculous opportunity: the chance to do it all again. But that is easier said than done. In order to change the path her life has taken, she must put aside years of self-loathing and pain, so she can help the young girl she once was become the woman she should have been.
At 17 years old, Grace Bennett is a bitter young woman. Though blessed with a loving family, looks and brains to spare, she hides her light under a bushel, spending most of her time in the darkness of her mind with little more than sarcasm and self-pity to keep her company.
But things are about to change for Grace. While delivering food for her family's bed and breakfast, she turns onto a desolate dirt road and drives straight into her destiny. It's on this isolated country lane that the damaged girl meets a strangely familiar old couple and two mysterious young men.
Together the group fights the demons that surround Grace, and they teach her what it means to let her light shine.
Short Review
I have to say I really didn't know what to expect when I started reading this book. The book starts out very slow but does eventually pick up. You'll find humor, self-doubt, mystery, and plenty of angel against demon action.
This book is so wonderfully written. There are real-life lessons within “Illuminating Gracie,” that the author subtly conveys through humor and well-drawn characters. Each character had such a wonderful vivid description, one could visualize about him or her. Gracie is a very believable teenager that many if not all can identify with.
I recommend Illuminating Gracie to everyone high school and up that enjoys a deep, reflective story. If you could see where you are forty years from now what would you change?
Excerpt
Willem settled in beside me on the small sofa, and we fell into easy conversation. Without the stress of Mrs. B's subversive negativity, I found myself opening up to Willem in a way I had never opened up to anyone before. I was completely comfortable with him, and in his presence I was completely comfortable with me - a concept with which I was totally unaccustomed.
I suppose it was this unexplained comfort level that caused me to lay bare my soul. I had always played my cards close to the vest, so to speak, keeping my feelings completely to myself. In fact, the mere mention of feelings usually caused my insides to run hot and cold. I could handle expressing joy, during the unusual periods in which I actually felt it, but hurt - hurt was something else entirely. My pain was my pain, no one else's and I had a lot of pain.
Of course, it came out in all kinds of bizarre ways - sarcasm, anger, OCD - but that didn't matter to me. As long as no one knew what was really going on inside, I would be okay. I was in control.
Now, I was letting go of that control with a man I barely knew. I had no explanation for my abandon, nor any hesitation. He simply asked me to tell him about myself, and I did. I mean I really did.
About the AuthorLisa C. Temple is a lifetime resident of Montgomery, Alabama where she lives with her husband Dana, with whom she has a 21-year-old son, Temp. She is a graduate of Huntingdon College and Jones School of Law. Illuminating Gracie is her debut novel.
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