Saving Grace

Book 17 of my 2015 Reading Challenge
read from March 2 - 3

Saving Grace by Jane Green

Summary (via Goodreads)

Grace and Ted Chapman are widely regarded as the perfect literary power couple. Ted is a successful novelist and Grace, his wife of twenty years, is beautiful, stylish, carefree, and a wonderful homemaker. But what no one sees, what is churning under the surface, is Ted’s rages. His mood swings. And the precarious house of cards that their lifestyle is built upon. When Ted’s longtime assistant and mainstay leaves, the house of cards begins to crumble and Grace, with dark secrets in her past, is most vulnerable. She finds herself in need of help but with no one to turn to…until the perfect new assistant shows up out of the blue.  To the rescue comes Beth, a competent young woman who can handle Ted and has the calm efficiency to weather the storms that threaten to engulf the Chapman household. Soon, though, it’s clear to Grace that Beth might be too good to be true. This new interloper might be the biggest threat of all, one that could cost Grace her marriage, her reputation, and even her sanity.  With everything at stake and no one to confide in, Grace must find a way to save herself before it is too late.

My Opinion

The pages turned easily but I only thought the book was okay, not great. 

The moral of this book seems to be "trust your gut".  There were plenty of red flags with the assistant (and stupid Ted for getting caught up in it) that were overlooked.  

I know the frustration of having a partner who is lovely and wonderful in public and the complete opposite in private, making it virtually impossible to have anyone understand why you would leave (although not to the extent that Grace does, thankfully).  The unpredictability is very stressful and I had a lot of empathy for her, although I was very angry with her when she was blaming herself.

There were some small editing issues.  One was referring to their 'children' when they only have one - maybe there had been multiple children in an earlier draft.  Also, Grace was described as having her "hair scraped under an old hat" and then her "hair scraped back in a bun" a few pages later; not a huge deal but the phrase was strange enough that I noticed when it was repeated again so quickly.

I skipped the recipes, as I always do (just a personal preference), and I also skimmed the part where she went on a soapbox regarding medications for psych disorders.

A Quote from the Book

"The more perfect the illusion, the more her secrets will recede. Or so she thinks.
  If she just keeps running and running, keeps being the perfect wife, mother, cook, the past will surely disappear."