The Summer of Grace by Karen Jones, A Review

 

(book cover via NetGalley)

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Book Description

Ten-year-old Gracie sits on the backyard picnic table, hugging Brown Hound, wiping her nose on the dog’s fur. Her daddy is sending them both to her grandmother for the summer. They are too much for her high-strung mother.

It’s 1951 on the NC family farm when Gracie and Brown Hound meet the family. Great Granny Jane smokes a pipe and is fast with her cane, Miss Emily is loving but firm, and Jane, her cousin of the same age, has a swashbuckler’s heart.

It is wild and heady freedom, far from her mother’s scorn and her father’s indifference. The girls hunt for ancient graves, sneak visits the conjure woman, fight, make up, and sleep in the same bed, tangled like puppies.

But there is also Marcell, the solitary woman who keeps the house. Her dark skin shines but not her eyes; her history is mysteriously entwined with the family, and for some inexplicable reason she hates dogs. Gracie and Jane must fix this before Brown Hound gets sent away.

Can the girls unearth Marcell’s secrets? Why must they find a missing grave? And what time-worn promise exposed will reveal the family’s hidden past?

Review

I received a dARC copy of this book from the publisher. Here is my honest review.

I loved the title of this book: The Summer of Grace. So much could be explored within that.  It is listed on NetGalley in General/Women's Fiction as well as Teen & YA - which had me intrigued.  

The writing structure "feels" middle grade to me but doesn't feel childish.  All I know is I enjoyed it very much and was curious to see what else the author wrote; I look forward to seeing future works from her in this same vein.

Grace is a young girl who is ignored largely by her mother and scolded when she garners her mother's attention. She is sent to her grandmother's farm for the summer to give her mother a "rest".   She is apprehensive but thrives in the simple country setting and loving guidance of not only her grandmother but other extended family as well.  

This book also explores the impact of segregation, lynchings and racism through Marcell's storyline.  While the girls were originally motivated to help Marcell for selfish reasons, they begin to understand her as they uncover the past one secret at a time.  

I gave this book: ★★★★

★ = I did not like it     ★★ = It was okay     ★★★ = I liked it    ★★★★ = I really liked it     ★★★★★ = I loved it