Books

Grace

  • Oct 29, 2020
  • T. Greenwood
  • 915 responses.

Grace For thirteen year old Trevor Kennedy taking photos helps make sense of his fractured world His father Kurt struggles to keep a business going while also caring for Trevor s aging grandfather whose

  • Title: Grace
  • Author: T. Greenwood
  • ISBN: 9780758250926
  • Page: 454
  • Format: Paperback

    • For thirteen year old Trevor Kennedy, taking photos helps make sense of his fractured world His father, Kurt, struggles to keep a business going while also caring for Trevor s aging grandfather, whose hoarding has reached dangerous levels Trevor s mother, Elisabeth, all but ignores her son while doting on his five year old sister, Gracy, and pilfering useless drugstore iFor thirteen year old Trevor Kennedy, taking photos helps make sense of his fractured world His father, Kurt, struggles to keep a business going while also caring for Trevor s aging grandfather, whose hoarding has reached dangerous levels Trevor s mother, Elisabeth, all but ignores her son while doting on his five year old sister, Gracy, and pilfering useless drugstore items Trevor knows he can count on little Gracy s unconditional love and his art teacher s encouragement None of that compensates for the bullying he has endured at school for as long as he can remember But where Trevor once silently tolerated the jabs and name calling, now anger surges through him in ways he s powerless to control Only Crystal, a store clerk dealing with her own loss, sees the deep fissures in the Kennedy family in the haunting photographs Trevor brings to be developed, and in the palpable distance between Elisabeth and her son And as their lives become intertwined, each will be pushed to the breaking point, with shattering, unforeseeable consequences.

    • ↠ Grace Ý T. Greenwood
      454 T. Greenwood

    About "T. Greenwood"

    1. T. Greenwood

      T Greenwood is the author of twelve novels She has received grants from the Sherwood Anderson Foundation, the Christopher Isherwood Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and, most recently, the Maryland State Arts Council She has won three San Diego Book Awards Five of her novels have been BookSense76 IndieBound picks BODIES OF WATER was finalist for a Lambda Foundation award Her twelfth novel, RUST STARDUST, will be published in August 2018.She teaches creative writing for San Diego Writer s Ink and online for The Writer s Center She and her husband, Patrick, live in San Diego, CA with their two daughters She is also a photographer.More information on T Greenwood can be found at her websites tgreenwood and ephemerafiles

    915 Comments

    1. I ve read all of T Greenwood s books, loved them all, and this is truly her most remarkable The writing, the setting, the emotional stakes are all stunning This starts out with tremendous power and the tension is kept throughout as we try to figure out how troubled teen Trevor gets to his current place and what exactly this current place involves Where I thought this book was going is not where it ended up and I mean that in the best possible way.As with her other books, in Grace, the characters [...]

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    2. 4.5 stars My first book by T Greenwood, but not my last Just bought her latest, Bodies Of Water Her style reminds me a bit of my favorite authors, Diane Chamberlain or Amy Hatvany They all develop their characters so well This book had an ending different than what I expected.

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    3. Tammy Greenwood is a master at writing riveting family drama, and this book might just be her best yet Kurt and Elsbeth have been together forever it seems, and they ve fallen into a number of common traps accidental pregnancy that canceled college plans, taking over Kurt s family business after his brother was driven out of town, his mother died and his father became ill The recession and a refinanced mortgage that now involved a huge balloon payment made things that much worse Then there was T [...]

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    4. This book revolved mostly around Trevor, a young teenager who is going through typical mental physical changes of the mind body, yet he has no one to talk to who wants to help him or listen to him maybe reassure him that some of these changes are normal then add your classic case of bullying in there there s a recipe for disaster.But there s much to this story.Trevor s family may seem OK on the surface but there are cracks within each family member His mom has her own issues I feel she was self [...]

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    5. This was so hard to put down Stories within stories Going back a generation, from father to grandfather, lovel denied, twisted punishment A father that cannot show love, one that withholds love A boy, difficult from birth, obviously with issues gone ignored for years, awkwardly trying to find his place Growing up to fast and without guidance His own mother doesn t understand his needs or her own And is often repulsed by his behavior.She shoplifts to satisfy her own emptiness He gets no help or c [...]

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    6. T Greenwood is a favorite of mine Her prose is pitch perfect and heart wrenching She manages to capture the human experience with a keen eye I cannot rave enough about her Her latest novel, Grace, is no exception We return to Two Rivers to meet the Kennedy s and a teenage mother who just gave up her baby for adoption The way their worlds collide is significant, dramatic, and so real Kurt is a lovable character One thing about Greenwood is that she is able to show character flaws in a beautiful l [...]

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    7. This is my first book by T Greenwood and it most definitely will not be my last I look so forward to reading from this author and reading her earlier books love the front cover image as pulls on you to want to learn what is inside this door and family The writing quality, the setting, the emotion was spectacular The character development was excellent and complex Readers will be drawn from the front cover to the back cover Appears as though the author is not afraid to tackle certain subjects wh [...]

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    8. I read T Greenwood s first novel over a decade ago, and since then I have always been anxiously awaiting her next Her characters are always captivating and her story lines complex and heartwrenching When I learned the premise of GRACE and later read a sample of the book, it heightened my anticipation of devouring the entire story I had to know why the characters had come to the place I found them in the opening scene.Each of the interweaving story lines in GRACE is so very relevant, and the way [...]

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    9. This book was a page turner but I really wish she d pared it down and made it a little less frenetic There were too many issues For example, Kurt had an ARM that was turning into a balloon payment, a klepto wife who likes to party and shop online and dreams of a real vacation, a hoarder dad who needs to go into a nursing home, a bullied possibly gay son, a gay brother who was bullied by their father, and his business is failing.I think people do find themselves in a predicament but this was a bi [...]

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    10. This was a tough read for me The opening paragraphs tell of a father holding a gun to his teenage son s head I was compelled to finish the book to find out why, otherwise I might have put it back on the shelf There were too many characters with too many serious issues I know we all have issues but if you can think of a major issue, someone in this book had it They were all detached and didn t communicate with anyone but then in the end they all communicate and everyone seems fixed Am I sorry I r [...]

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    11. Heavy hard read for me I will review it later but I will say that Greenwood really touched the wounds of bullying and parenting Having a son myself that has Asperger s though this book is not about asperger s I have experienced so much first hand therefore, her novel was a bit like salt in wounds Wonderfully written, not just what Trevor is going through, but the hunger for something , something better that so many grown ups feel This novel is about far than Trevor I will expand my review in a [...]

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    12. 3.5 A dysfunctional family, though they don t see themselves as such The mother too wrapped up in her daughter and the father who doesn t seem to see or understand exactly what is son is going through Felt so bad fr the character Kyle, though he did have a teacher who encouraged and became a sort of safe haven for the abuse he took at the hands of some of his schoolmates Very well and touchingly written, this story has one of the most shocking opening chapters I have read in a while and really d [...]

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    13. Story about a couple married at 17 when the girl became pregnant They are now 30 and struggling to make ends meet and dealing with his father who has hoarding issues and their oldest son, who is being bullied at school It made me think about all the people who struggle with these issues in real life and made me grateful for all I have been blessed with I liked the way the couple in the novel was committed to their family, and the ending was very redeeming, it left me feeling hopeful.

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    14. Extremely well written This story was so sad I had conflicting emotions when I finished this book It was defiantly hard to rate I gave Grace four stars mainly because it was well written and hard to put down once I started it.

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    16. I couldnt put this down, raised all kinds of emotions in me Had to pause and gasp once in awhile but the book never left my hands

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    17. 1st from greenwood for me, paperback, 2012ere s a in memory of followed by a list of 18 namesd all the other tragic casualties of hatred and intolerance.did a search of many of the names if not all names on the list are victims of bullying gay bullyingicides.ough one was not portrayed as gay and i didn t search each name on the list name showed up w a girl suicidee names seem to be all male.ough this name that appeared side by side w a female suicideswere located in different placesere s a coupl [...]

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    19. What a story I became so wrapped up in these characters Like her other books a reader can find the rest of the world quietly run in the background while you find yourself immersed in the story The book follows mostly Trevor a teenage boy who struggles at home, at school, and in his own mind This was the third T Greenwood book I ve read and will be out looking for my fourth today

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    20. This is going to be a very mixed review I was amazed at the quality of writing but disappointed in the story Grace is a very heart wrenching story It focuses on four character point of views, with their common link being Gracy, a beautiful vibrant little girl Kurt Gracy s father He is hard working and struggling to keep his family healthy and happy Now he also has to shoulder the problems of his ailing father Elsbeth Gracy s Mother Unhappy with her choices in life and wondering what could have b [...]

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    21. audiobookThere are several authors who write about family dynamics, Amy Hatvany, Jodi Picoult, Lisa Genova and T Greenwood to name a few This is the second book I ve read by this author but she is right up there in my favorites who write contemporary novels A family in crisis spiraling down into disaster pushed the limits of my comfort zone while pulling me deeper and deeper into the heart wrenching story of the Kennedy family It got my attention right away Wrong assumptions and poor communicati [...]

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    22. Thirteen year old Trevor, his little sister Grace, and his parents Kurt and Elsbeth make up one side of this intricate story On the other side is Crystal whose life took an unexpected turn when she became pregnant at seventeenACE is written in a style that reminds me of books by Jodi Piccoult Author T Greenwood takes her readers deeply into the lives and minds of her characters as she gradually reveals their personal issues and their often complicated connections.Trevor is suffering at the hands [...]

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    23. A mesmerizing read which captures your attention from the opening chapter Thoughts of what could have brought the story to this point run foremost in your mind There is no choice but to read on and discover for yourself A highly emotional journey in which the characters find themselves held prisoner by even their most simplistic of desires promises to keep the reader committed to turning the pages until all becomes clear, as snapshot in time, also held prisoner Two Rivers, an out of the way smal [...]

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    24. Greenwood has written a heartrending story about a dysfunctional family living in a dysfunctional society Once I started this novel I was unable to put it down At times it was agonizing to read, knowing that Trevor was being bullied and picked on, yet it always turned out to be his fault Knowing that he had no one to turn to in order to express his emotions and feelings I do not think anyone reading this novel would be unemotional, because Greenwood pulls at the gut and heart strings like no oth [...]

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    25. I was enthralled with Grace by T Greenwood from the opening chapter She tells us the story of a family in Two Rivers, VT and that of a checkout girl from the local Walgreens Their stories intertwine seamlessly and in ways that seem unexpected, yet so fitting Every single character has a depth to them, making them all alive beyond the page I grew attached to all of her carefully constructed characters, dying to know what the final pages would reveal about them all As a teacher, this novel holds a [...]

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    26. I ve loved everything T Greenwood has written and looked forward to reading this one At first I was a little worried that there was too much going on in this book it covers an awful lot of ground and numerous social and personal issues But it s wonderful, and the story spins out so well pretty gracefully, pun intended You see inside the characters and watch their struggles with an impending sense of doom that something big and awful is going to happen but you re not exactly sure what i won t rui [...]

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    27. Amazing story It s hard to feel too bad about your life as you read about these wounded and hurting people Ms Greenwood hits all the right buttons to make you feel so many things As I read the book I was full of emotions, mainly fear, apprehension, and pity for the hurting characters she portrays It seems that there is no fix for all the problems that they encounter and endure Yet life can change and there is redemption for wrong Justice and grace are elements that make life endurable and even b [...]

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    28. I enjoyed reading the book and loved the development of all the characters It seemed like all the characters were fighting their own version of quicksand throughout the book I found Trevor s teacher as the bright spot in the book she was the only solid support for Trevor The author really did a good job of detailing Trevor s emotions and inability to handle the terrible abuse at school Although there were many story lines a hoarder grandfather, teen mother that gives up her baby and a mother and [...]

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    29. His rifle drawn and aimed at the back of his only son s head The first paragraph of the book drew me in, and I read until I finished it 24 hours later This was a very good book, although busy There were so many things happening in the characters lives, that at times it was overwhelming And yet, it added to the feeling of desperation and despair that the story led to And I just wanting to know what would lead a father to that horrible position My eyes welled up with heartbreak at the denouement S [...]

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    30. This is a family of individuals going through hard times They seem to struggle with communicating with each other about their troubles and the secrets that each of them are unwilling to part with bringing them further and further apart until this explosive situation arises where Kurt almost loses his son at his own hand Grace is the glue that keeps them together She is the light of the family and in almost losing that light the eventual source that starts the healing process.I really enjoy Green [...]

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