About Grace

A Novel

By: Anthony Doerr

Narrated by: George Newbern

When Anthony Doerr's The Shell Collector was published in 2002, the Los Angeles Times called his stories "as close to faultless as any writer - young or vastly experienced - could wish for." He won the Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Discover Prize, Princeton's Hodder Fellowship, and two O. Henrys and shared the Young Lions Award. Now he has written one of the most beautiful, wise, and compelling first novels of recent times.

David Winkler begins life in Anchorage, Alaska, a quiet boy drawn to the volatility of weather and obsessed with snow. Sometimes he sees things before they happen - a man carrying a hatbox will be hit by a bus; Winkler will fall in love with a woman in a supermarket. When David dreams that his infant daughter will drown in a flood as he tries to save her, he comes undone. He travels thousands of miles, fleeing family, home, and the future itself, to deny the dream.

On a Caribbean island, destitute, alone, and unsure if his child has survived or his wife can forgive him, David is sheltered by a couple with a daughter of their own. Ultimately it is she who will pull him back into the world, to search for the people he left behind.

Doerr's characters are full of grief and longing but also replete with grace. His compassion for human frailty is extraordinarily moving. In luminous prose he writes about the power and beauty of nature and about the tiny miracles that transform our lives. About Grace is heartbreaking, radiant, and astonishingly accomplished.

©2004 Anthony Doerr. All rights reserved. (P)2015 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Beautiful book

if you appreciate beautiful writing and a gentle story that carries you along, you will love this book. It is not an exciting suspenseful page turner; rather it is a slow journey, masterfully written.

Even better than “All the Light…”

I actually enjoyed this more than “All the Light”. The protagonist frustrated me in the same way that I frustrate myself when I find myself too tired or bored to communicate effectively with people I love. And as an Alaskan, the setting, of course, resonated.

one of my top 5 novels - moving

Although the premise is fantastic, the characters are fully human - a beautiful story that explores the nature of time, love, and family.

Slow start, but the rest of the story was amazing

The memory of the excellence of Beneath A Scarlet Sky kept me going through the first 50 pages.
I am not disappointed I trusted in the authors need to set the stage.

About Grace

A Good plot but it is extremely long. The end lacked force. Not the best of Doerr

Beautiful listen

A contemplative love story of loss and redemption. Narration was very resonant with the story. Kindness weaving through and through.

Astonishing

What a beautiful book! Anthony Doerr’s mind is capacious—there’s something going on (and something to be learned) in every word.

Great from the first sentence to the last

Antony Doerr is quickly becoming one of my favorite contemporary writers. His stories are realistic with the touch of magic and mystery and his language...well...I would read a shopping list if it were written by him. This particular story is about life. The actions we take and mistakes we make trying to do our best under the circumstances. How hard it is at times to communicate with people we love and care about the most. It is about the misunderstandings and the grace of forgiving to yourself and others and the acceptance of the inevitable. It is about finding the strength in changing what seems to be impossible to change and finding courage to take second chances. The story takes the reader from Alaska to Ohio to St. Vincent and back to the various states in the United States, and Alaska, as the protagonist is searching for his estranged wife and daughter, who might or might not be alive. The descriptions of the nature of each of these places are absolutely stunning. It is also a story of finding kindness and kindred spirits in all the unexpected places and what it means to be a family. A wonderful story, beautifully written, captivating from the beginning to the very end.

Love Anthony Doerr

All the Light I Cannot See is amazing and it has drawn me to Anthony Doerr, now any and all of his work is a thrill. His prose and perspective bring about an elegant experience for the reader/listener.

Somewhat Confusing

I was so confused during the first 10 chapters that I almost stopped listening. Eventually I started making sense of the story but it took a lot of concentration and backing up because I thought I had missed segments... then I didn't care if I missed something and when I got to that point... I think it began to make more sense. Ultimately, it was very thought provoking ... almost living in the mind of a psychotic person who was also very endearing.