Everything was amplified and it all felt very acute. So it wasn’t difficult to get into Grace’s headspace. I wrote the book all over the house, but mostly at the kitchen table and in my bedroom. There was a moment when I was writing on the doorstep, trying to escape it all. It was a cathartic write. A cry for help!

I listened to this as an audiobook and Claire Skinner does a fantastic job at capturing Grace and all she is going through. Unfortunately as she walks, life keeps getting in her way and Grace becomes more and more distraught and agitated. She just wants to talk to Lottie. She needs to talk to her. Three woman who join together to rent a large space along the beach in Los Angeles for their stores—a gift shop, a bakery, and a bookstore—become fast friends as they each experience the highs, and lows, of love. A woman walks across London to deliver a birthday cake for her 16-year-old daughter, reliving the joys and tragedies of the previous decades. In terms of rituals, I usually made chamomile tea before starting work, to calm the creative dread…All in all, I had expected to love this book for it promised a strong middle-aged woman protagonist who had finally had enough of everyone taking her for granted. But the potential isn’t truly realised and the book ends up as an average read for me. The writer does have a lot of promise – it is no mean task to keep three timelines blending seamlessly. But perhaps a bit of editing and finetuning would have helped, especially in the over-the-top second half. As with most debut authors, this author too throws in everything plus the kitchen sink into her book. There are way too many themes, and most of them aren’t really necessary for the main storyline. They just end up diluting the main point of the book, which is that of a mother desperately wanting to connect with her teenaged daughter again. I also wanted to inject some humour into it, which is where the idea for the day from hell came in. Grace is having one of the worst days of her life. She’s pretty much lost everything. But instead of breaking down, she rises up, finally. She rips up the social contract, and goes out and says and does all the things we only dream of doing. She’s basically my fantasy self! AMAZING GRACE ADAMS is a book unlike anything I've read before. I wasn't truly hooked on this one until the second half, and then I just couldn't walk away. To be honest, I didn't like Grace much in the first half. But I think that was kind of the point. She's an unlikely character, an unlikely person, with a certain set of traits that make her difficult to deal with, both as a partner and as a parent. In dealing with the massive problems she experiences with her family in the course of this book, Grace experiences a great deal of growth. And so do we, as audience members, in being granted the opportunity to be this close to someone who is so fraught with emotion and yet unable to manage or express it. This can be an uncomfortable read, but it is well done. Amazing Grace Adams follows Grace and her daughter, Lottie. Throughout the whole book, both of them are tested in some of the most heartbreaking ways. Grace is known to be chaotic, and I believe the author used this character's trait to further make the book chaotic.

Amazing Grace Adams was an enjoyable immersion reading experience through a DRC and an ALC. Either format will deliver a pleasant connection, however my preference is the audiobook with the excellent narration of Claire Skinner, whose voicing of Grace is exceptional. As a medical professional who spent the pandemic "rage sewing"TM after work, I felt Grace's frustrations in my bones -- both her day-from-hell, and everything leading up to it.Unfortunately, Grace Adams herself is whiny, self-indulgent, and just not likable enough to carry the book.

I loved it. Vivid, visceral and incredibly emotional. I laughed and sobbed' TIM MINCHIN, multi-award-winning composer/lyricist of Matilda The Musical, comedian, actor, producer and director Once upon a time, life was easier, not quite as messy as it is these days for them. Once upon a time Grace was amazing, and so was her life. As a polyglot, doors were opened for her, and then her life changed. Hearts were broken. Mistakes have been made by all. Time has passed and Grace has regrets, but is desperate to prove to her daughter that she loves her. That she is not her enemy. That they are still a family. But behind the scenes, Grace's life is in freefall. Her husband is divorcing her. Her daughter has banned her from her birthday party. And Grace has just abandoned her car in bumper-to-bumper traffic. An exacting and brilliantly structured novel about love, grief, hope lost and then found again' MARY BETH KEANE, New York Times bestselling author of Ask Again, YesThen there was a long lead time from Grace being acquired in April 2021 to publication in January 2023 - although I’m not entirely sure where that time went because it feels more like a handful of months. There are some beautiful foreign language words regularly scattered in the narrative. These were fun to learn.

Buuuuuuut that didn’t happen and as a woman of a certain age who always feels like she might be on the cusp of a quality Menty B I found a new best friend in Grace. It can be a real Renaissance time. This midlife time has so many challenges in some ways, set against a culture that prizes beauty and youth. But there are real positives. There can be a return to the authentic self. The pre-adolescent self,” she says. “I know women who are starting new ventures, doing new things.” Early 2000s. Grace is a polyglot who has just proven how amazing she is by winning the title of ’Polyglot of the Year.’ Brilliant . . . a story of a midlife heroine seeking redemption and so much more Woman & Home, Book of the Month A rip-roaring, empowering story of redemption, discovery and starting over. Glorious' DAILY EXPRESS

Retailers:

Of course, the protagonist of a good novel need not be likable. The problem with this book is that there isn’t any indication that the author realizes that the present-day Grace is annoying, not amazing. Readers will relish the letting loose of one woman's long-suppressed righteous rage . . . Spectacular' MAIL ON SUNDAY Told through several timelines, the reader will see just how changed, the charmed life of Amazing Grace Adams really is. Also how careers of men are not always so similarly affected. I can’t remember the last time I read a novel with such unbridled enthusiasm. Amazing Grace Adams is a raw, uproariously hilarious portrait of parenthood, love, and family; it’s also a profound examination of the way language can both save us and fail us when we need it the most. I’d walk across London on the hottest day of the year with Fran Littlewood—hell, I’d walk anywhere with her. I’m begging you: read this book.”