Wherever Grace Is Needed

Wherever Grace Is Needed
Elizabeth Bass
2011
352 pages

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I’m totally cheating and stealing the book description from one of those major book selling sites (you know, the one that isn’t B&N):

When Grace Oliver leaves Portland for Austin, Texas, to help her father, Lou, recuperate from a car accident, she expects to stay just a few weeks. Since her mother’s divorce thirty years ago, Grace has hovered on the periphery of the Oliver family. But now she sees a chance to get closer to her half-brothers and the home she’s never forgotten.

But the Olivers are facing a crisis. Tests reveal that Lou, a retired college professor whose sharp tongue and tenderness Grace adores, is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Grace delays her departure to care for him, and is soon entwined in the complicated lives of her siblings-all squabbling over Lou’s future-and of the family next door…

Ray West and his three children are reeling from a recent tragedy, particularly sixteen-year-old Jordan, whose grief is heightened by guilt and anger. Amid the turmoil, Grace not only gives solace and support, but learns to receive it. And though she came to Austin to reconnect with her past, she is drawn by degrees into surprising new connections.

With wit, wisdom, and unfailing insight, Elizabeth Bass tells a story of loving and letting go, of heartache and hope, and of the joy that comes in finding a place we can truly call home.

I know I bought this at Borders, because the sticker on the back told me so. But I have no recollection of when or why I bought it. I must have been in a sappy mood, because this is one of those books that’ll make you (okay, me) tear up while at the same time you’re asking yourself (again, me) “Really? You’re crying over that??”

I think my two major concerns with the book were that 1) the love story part of the story (a minor part during the book, but kinda big at the end) had zero sparks happening and 2) the characters saw the light but I never really saw them see the light, if that makes any sense. It was like conflict, conflict, conflict, resolution. I wanted more AHA! between the conflict and the resolution. Or maybe I just needed to be hit between the eyes with it. I mean, it was there, it was just too subtle considering the high drama that was the beginning of the book. So while this was an enjoyable read for a Saturday afternoon, it’s not going to be anything that sticks with me.