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Days of Grace
"My memories of Grace never added up to how she really was. She was always impossible to pin down, dancing just out of my reach, exactly as she did when she was alive."
Nora was a girl of twelve when the war broke out and she was forced to join the train-loads of evacuees leaving London's East End for rural Kent. Her surrogate family, the Rivers family, are unlike anyone sh...more
Nora was a girl of twelve when the war broke out and she was forced to join the train-loads of evacuees leaving London's East End for rural Kent. Her surrogate family, the Rivers family, are unlike anyone sh...more
Paperback, 292 pages
Published
2009
by Portobello Books
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A simple premise, truthfully told of WWII London evacuees, reluctant children taken from grieving, yet unfaltering mothers and fathers to a safer haven in the English countryside. Thus, we meet Nora and her devoted mother as they part, forever lost in that innocent moment, never to physically reclaim that indestructible bond of mother and child.
Catherine Hall immaculately weaves the evocative narratives of Nora’s ostensibly carefree and guileless countryside life with beautiful, charming Grace a...more
Catherine Hall immaculately weaves the evocative narratives of Nora’s ostensibly carefree and guileless countryside life with beautiful, charming Grace a...more
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I’m fairly certain this is the first time I have been completely clueless as to how to start my review. My normal banter seems wildly inappropriate, yet focusing entirely on the gloom, I feel will have an adverse effect.
When I first read the slip cover for “Days of Grace” I picked up two very distinctive things,
1. Struggling with the affects of war through the eyes of a 12 year old girl
2. Experiencing the inner turmoil of a lost love
but when it was all said and done, when I closed the back cover...more
When I first read the slip cover for “Days of Grace” I picked up two very distinctive things,
1. Struggling with the affects of war through the eyes of a 12 year old girl
2. Experiencing the inner turmoil of a lost love
but when it was all said and done, when I closed the back cover...more
This book started really slow for me. It alternates between present day and the end of WWII and I think the reason it lagged at first is because I was just not all that interested in the modern day portion of the story (there is little, if any, plot in these sections). There were some interesting twists/viewpoints/approaches to the WWII portion but as the “climax” approached, it was way too obvious where it was headed. I just keep thinking, “please surprise me and don’t end the way I think it’s...more
Mar 07, 2011
Sherry Edwards
added it
This book kept my interest, but I didn't love it and probably wouldn't reccomend it to anyone. It is a story of two girls coming-of-age story. One of the girls is evacuated to the safety of the English countryside during World War II. She comes to live with a family that has a daughter just her age and they become the very best of friends. Nora falls in love with Grace, but is never able to tell her of that love. The story takes many twists and turns. Along side the story of Grace and Nora when...more
A couple of days ago, I really thought this would be at least a four star book. The best written part was about a 12 year old lower-class London girl being evacuated into the countryside during WWII and the idyllic life she encountered there. (the scene of her first exposure to a Sunday roast beef dinner is spectacular.) Moving between that time and the same girl--Nora--as an elderly woman with terminal cancer, the story moved along quite well, but then a few too many loose threads occurred alon...more
Elderly Nora, certain she is dying from some type of self-diagnosed abdominable or uterine cancer, attempts to absolve her guilt from incidents in her youth by taking in an unwed young mother who has been disowned by her family.
Chapters alternate between the past and present. The present focus on Rose and her baby, their fabrication of family, Nora seeing a doctor about her condition, and the hospice nurse that comes to live with them. Chapters set during the Blitz are concerned with Nora's adju...more
Chapters alternate between the past and present. The present focus on Rose and her baby, their fabrication of family, Nora seeing a doctor about her condition, and the hospice nurse that comes to live with them. Chapters set during the Blitz are concerned with Nora's adju...more
This book had a dark side to it from the start that almost put me off, but eventually, the main character grew on me and I wanted to know how it ended. This is the third book I've read lately that alternates chapters between two times in the life of the main character [or characters]. It's an interesting device, and it can make more interesting a story that might otherwise fall flat. This one lacked something in the telling that would have made it more immediate, more urgent. The historical back...more
Nora is twelve years old when, because of World War II, she becomes one of the thousands of English children put on trains out of London into the safer English countryside. Her mother puts her on the evacuation train for her safety, but Nora feels it as an emotionally devastating rejection. When she reaches rural Kent and is taken in by the Rivers family, she bonds immediately with their daughter, Grace, is enchanted by Mrs. Rivers, and grateful for the new world Rev. Rivers opens up to her with...more
When I heard there was a new historical fiction debut novel by an English author coming out, one that was placed during World War II, I jumped for joy and asked to review it. I haven’t read much about the evacuee children who were shipped to the English countryside during the war, and I was really looking forward to reading this book. Thankfully, I wasn’t disappointed and found it to be a compelling read. I finished the book in one sitting, because I couldn’t stop reading it. Author Catherine Ha...more
Days of Grace by Catherine Hall is a psychological tale of friendship, love, and the corrosive effects of silence and unspoken feelings on individuals and families. The setting is London and Kent during the span of British involvement in World War II and contemporary London. Yes, its one of those novels that bounces back and forth in time, but it is done well.
TheBookseller.com, the UK's book industry magazine (similar to Publisher's Weekly in the US), recently posted a piece by Victoria Gallagh...more
TheBookseller.com, the UK's book industry magazine (similar to Publisher's Weekly in the US), recently posted a piece by Victoria Gallagh...more
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The premise of a book based on the lives of London evacuees during WWII intrigued me. As the book evolved, we are thrown into the onset of adolescence for Nora, the loss of her mother due to relocation, and we are introduced to a family with emotional separation, despite living united, whom take Nora in for safe lodging. The life of black-outs, rationing and fear during war-time are well-written and make a vivid and realistic picture for the reader.
During Nora's time with her host family, she co...more
During Nora's time with her host family, she co...more
Nora Lynch is 12 years old when WWII breaks out in Britain. She is sent to live with a family in the country for the duration of the war. Nora lives with reverend Rivers and his wife and daughter (Grace). Nora falls in love with Grace over the next five years an discovers a sad secret about Reverend Rivers and his wife. Nora carries her own tragic secret about her and Grace to her grave. The book is very well written and very human in its treatment of its characters – especially Nora.
I don't know. Maybe it was the audiobook, but I found Nora to be a really unappealing character. She's miserly and petty. I guess I can't really stand characters that just wallow in their misery. I also couldn't understand why she was in love with Grace. Grace was such an one-dimensional character. I didn't know anything about her. Furthermore, every aspect of the plot was underwhelming. Hall tried too hard to make this a sweeping Hollywood drama and it's all been done before.
"What we have here is a failure to communicate"(not a quote from the book, but from a movie I can't remember the name of)...this irked me throughout the book. I enjoyed the first part when Nora, the evacuee joins a country family to escape the war. However, as the story unfolds, I like the main characters less and less. By the end I am just frustrated. I listened to this and thought that the reading was very good and held my attention. I have to realize that not all characters are created to be...more
I enjoyed this book - I do however agree with other readers that Nora is not a particularly likeable character and there was nothing that special about Grace - but then again we can't help who we fall in love with!
I was left with the feeling at then end that I'd read it before - it wasn't that original, I'm sure I've read a similar book (echo's of Kate Morton's atrocious The Distant Hours in parts perhaps? - this is by far a better book!).
I was left with the feeling at then end that I'd read it before - it wasn't that original, I'm sure I've read a similar book (echo's of Kate Morton's atrocious The Distant Hours in parts perhaps? - this is by far a better book!).
Not usually one for historical fiction, but WWII gets me every time. My lovely librarian pal, Shannon, recommended this one. Basically the story is about a two girls who grow up together after one gets shipped out of the city to live with the other's family in the country. It is told in flashbacks as the narrator lies in bed waiting to die of cancer. A tear jerker for sure!
Bucking the "Goodreads" 3.5 trend, I give this one 5 stars. Nora is an apt narrator, alternating between her childhood in WWII England and her present life, facing a terminal illness. Depressing? Perhaps. Certainly sad event follows sad event. Still, Nora's strong voice, her courage, her unwavering love held me in their spell until her eventual sense of redemption.
Book was less about WWII (although the circumstances would not have happened if it weren't during this time period), but more about a relationship between two girls and what can happen if we continue to hold "bad" things inside ourselves. I liked the book and it is a easy read, although the topics may not be so easy for everyone to read emotionally.
Ik vond dit boek niet zo geweldig als iedereen die hieronder een reactie heeft neergezet. Eigenlijk begon ik het boek op de helft pas mooi te vinden. Daarvoor pakte het verhaal me niet, tot op het moment dat Nora en Grace teruggaan naar Londen vanaf daar heb ik het aan een stuk uitgelezen. Conclusie: de moeite waard maar geen hoogvlieger!
There is nothing in the description of this book to warn you that it's about a girl struggling with homosexuality. If not for that, I might have at least liked this book. I just wish I had known what it was going to be about so I didn't have to waste my time reading half the book, then stopping when it got too graphic for my taste.
An intense wartime friendship and a corrosive secret that is kept for decades are at the center of this suspenseful novel of repressed passion and World War II tragedy.
Listen to Days of Grace on your smartphone, notebook or desktop computer.
Listen to Days of Grace on your smartphone, notebook or desktop computer.
This was an incredibly sad and frustrating book with the central character being a little bit annoying. I could understand why she did what she did at every turn but she just struck me as being the kind of person that revels in being a martyr and that was irritating. Other than that I enjoyed the book but didn't think it was fantastic.
Really enjoyed this. It was not cheery but a good story and I raced through it. It follows a girl evacuated during the war who falls in love with the daughter of the host family and all the repercussions that emanate from that and her decisions.
For her first novel, Hall does an excellent job of grabbing the reader's attention and keeping it! The story is of two adolescent girls in England during WW II and how they deal with love, repression and their burgeoning sexuality.
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Jul 30, 2011
Gail Burns
added it
Although I was fairly sure I could guess how this would end, it kept me reading right through. I enjoyed being drawn through the story and I'm glad the storyteller achieved "Grace" in the end.
Jul 30, 2011
Elisabeth
added it
I really enjoyed this novel. the characters were real and troubled. Although the plot was easy to guess, the social history was interesting and the skipping from WWII to present day was good.
I liked how the main character expressed her feelings of unrequited love. I didn't like how much it permeated the book. It made sense that it did, but it just made me frustrated is all. In that day and age, one didn't divulge such desire - I know. I just wish she had. It left me with a big "what if?" feeling.
It's not that I didn't enjoy this, I was just expecting rather more. The childhood evacuation story line was excellent, very descritive and engaging: Nora and Rose's story counterbalanced it nicely. But I thought the last third was a little disappointing and the ending did rather telegraph itself.
During World War II at 12-years old Nora Lynch was sent away by her Mom to the safety of the English County side. Her Dad had been killed in and her Mom was determined not to loose her too!
Follow Nora's journey living with the River's falling in love with their daughter and watching her die while trying to abort a baby.
Nora finally marries and works in a bookstore until she retires. In her later years she befriends a young girl and delivers her baby. This young girl turns out to be the only fri...more
Follow Nora's journey living with the River's falling in love with their daughter and watching her die while trying to abort a baby.
Nora finally marries and works in a bookstore until she retires. In her later years she befriends a young girl and delivers her baby. This young girl turns out to be the only fri...more
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CATHERINE HALL was born in the Lake District in 1973. She worked in documentary film production before becoming a freelance writer and editor for a range of charities specialising in human rights and development. Her first novel was Days of Grace (Portobello, 2008).
More about Catherine Hall...
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