This is my first Patricia Gaffney and (yet another) thing I have tried on Jennifer Crusie's recommendation (yes, I can think for myself, thanks for asking).
The Saving Graces is a book about friendship. Four women have enjoyed more than ten years of shared life and love; helping each other in more ways than can be counted.
Isabel has a broken marriage, a grown-up son she hardly sees and is two years into remission from breast cancer. Lee is well off financially but is struggling to fall pregnant. Rudy is beautiful, damaged and married to a controlling man. Emma is funny and feisty and falls for a man she can't have.
Listed like this, the characters sound fairly ordinary and their trials none-too-original but, as with all fiction, the magic is in the telling.
The story is told with the four distinct voices of the women, giving insights into each of their thoughts and personalities.
I bonded with them all; laughing, crying and cheering them on, and felt truly sad when it was time to leave them at the end.
Rating: 4/5
Like this? Try: Beautiful Bodies by Laura Shaine Cunningham
