"Grace"

In the course of conversation with some of my very dear colleagues, we decided that it would be a great idea to attend “Let’s Do Holiday Lunch, with Richard Paul Evans”. This popular event always includes a silent auction for fabulous items, lunch, and a presentation by Richard, himself! Being able to attend this luncheon is such an honor.

I was running a little late today, thus parking was a problem…. I drove through the entire lot before finding a place. As I got out of my car, guess who was getting out of his! Yes sir…..it was Richard. I smiled and said, “Oh my, the guest speaker….and I love your new book!” I showed him the copy I had in my purse and he offered to sign it for me so I wouldn’t have to wait in the long line that will form after the luncheon….YES, the sun is shinning on me today!

I loved the novel. Of course, I had picked it up back in November when I knew I would be going to the gala. You know it is that compulsive thing I have! The cover with a lit candle is beautiful and very intriguing. I would have bought the book without any thought of being lucky enough to attend the luncheon.

I brought the book home and read the back cover where there is an excerpt from the first chapter…..Yes a love story, narrated by an older person, I gather. "She was my first kiss. My first love." She was a little match girl who could see the future in the flame of a candle."

The front flap has a note from Richard….we are on first name basis now……. to the dear reader where he discusses his inspiration for his tale of a runaway girl, the naïve boy who hides her and his relationship with her and his younger brother. It's the most autobiographical of his novels.

The Author’s Note: “In 1874 a little girl was being abused by her parents, but the missionary could only help her by having her declared an animal with rights because there were no laws against child abuse. This situation incredibly didn't get better until the early 60s, which I soon discover is the time Grace is set. Before the story begins Richard included Hans Christian Anderson's sad tale of The Little Match Girl, obviously an inspiration for his novel, and then the story begins from the perspective of a fourteen-year-old boy.It's October 1962, ten days before the Cuban Missile Crisis when the world was supposed to end. The boy explains that his father came down with Guillain-Barre Syndrome leaving him temporarily paralyzed and so the family moved into a rundown section south of Salt Lake City where his grandparents used to live.

The first part of the book is about the boys getting used to being so poor and bullied at school and building a clubhouse in their huge back yard. I enjoy meeting such a typical family from the 60s. The older boy gets a job at a fast food place where he works with a couple of jerks, then finds a girl out back dumpster diving and that's Grace. He gets leftovers for the starving girl and finally has the idea of having her stay in the clubhouse. She doesn't want to go back home and he doesn't press the issue.The chapters are very short and alternate between the boy's and Grace's perspective. The little brother must be let in on the secret as his brother helps Grace make a home out in their clubhouse, which has a mattress, a water pump, a transistor radio, a calendar girl in a red bathing suit and electricity and eventually a Christmas Tree. It's soon pretty cozy and Grace likes novels. She stops going to school (the same one the Eric attends), he keeps feeding her until he picks up what's in her locker, the search for her reaches the television news, President Kennedy saves the world, Grace celebrates her sixteenth birthday, she and boy awkwardly fall in love, he then is shocked when she reveals why she ran away and he feels so stupid as she called him. I'm reading this wondering how is this going to end….those of you to know me…..I must read the last chapter if there is not going to be a happy ending.

Richard explained today that the novel takes place at time when there were no shelters for abused kids who can't go home and nobody even believed or wanted to believe that kids could be abused by stepfathers. Animals were protected more than children. Grace has no family in the area and really loves the boy who is so kind and generous.

I nervously read on...(I really tried to restrain myself from reading the ending….)
Finally it's Christmas Eve. All three chop down a little tree and decorate it and the clubhouse. They exchange presents and the next day Eric pretends to be sick so he can spend the day with Grace. It's the best day of his life...and the next day is the worst. I’ve given you enough information now…I do hope that you will pick up a copy and enjoy a few undisturbed hours of reading….
There's an Epilogue where Eric updates us on what his family is doing today and how he became a feared prosecutor of people like Grace's stepfather who got what he deserved. They all sound so real and yet the story also seemed like a dark fantasy to think that Grace, so much like the match girl, hid out for three months in a boy's clubhouse.

Richard leaves us with a letter at the end of the book, telling us that there are thousands of girls like Grace everywhere. With the tremendous success of his book The Christmas Box he established an organization to build emergency shelters for abused and neglected children. Four shelters in Utah have served more than twenty thousand children. He announced today that they are planning shelters in several other states, beginning in Arizona. With the release of Grace he has established The Christmas Box Initiative to help every youth in America exiting the foster care system. If you would like to join in with the cause you can go to their website http://www.operationkids.org/ and click on Life Start Kits. Or you can call 1-888-257-KIDS.


Thank you Richard for another wonderful novel…..Can’t wait for next year! Hmmmm and the character will be named…inside secret!