Karen Simpson

This is a book steeped in mysticism, hatred and the power of redemption. Grace grows up without her father in a home where her mother treats her quite abusively. She does not know the history of her family, she does not know about her grandmother, she does not know how her father died. She does not know that her mother is crazy.

After reading the synopsis I was expecting a book about racial attitudes and how they played out in a small town. This is not what I got per se. Racism was an underlying theme in the book but the main story was about Grace's coming age into African mysticism. Of how Grace's family and another family in town had been tied together for generations because of acts perpetrated first by one side then the other in revenge. It's a story as old as time and as current as can be.

At first I was annoyed that I had another book that was giving me a story other than promised in the description but then I found myself turning the pages, wanting to know more about Grace and her history. More about Grace and what her future held. I was hooked. The act mentioned as the driving force in the book - the shooting - comes at the very end of the book. The meat of the book is Grace learning her history. Learning her power. Learning her grace. Is it an easy story? Not by any means. It is compelling? Oh, yes! Grace is a girl really, just hitting adulthood and all she has known is suddenly pulled from under her and she has to face a new future.

I ended up reading this, page after page, as fast as I could. The writing was that good. It's not the type of book I usually find interesting and yet I couldn't put it down.… (més)