Title: The Truths and Triumphs of Grace Atherton
Author: Anstey Harris
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
[Synopsis]
Between the simple melody of running her violin shop and the full-blown orchestra of her romantic interludes in Paris with David, her devoted partner of eight years, Grace Atherton has always set her life to music.
Her world revolves entirely around David, for Grace’s own secrets have kept everyone else at bay. Until, suddenly and shockingly, one act tips Grace’s life upside down, and the music seems to stop.
It takes a vivacious old man and a straight-talking teenager to kickstart a new chapter for Grace. In the process, she learns that she is not as alone in the world as she had once thought, that no mistake is insurmountable, and that the quiet moments in life can be something to shout about …
[My Review]
I enjoyed The Truths and Triumphs of Grace Atherton; it’s a fairly slow burner but it kept me turning the pages because I wanted to find out how things would end for the main characters… even though the main character Grace could be a bit irritating at times. I definitely assumed she was way younger than forty(ish) until her age was explicitly stated; she reads as quite naive, particularly in the way she’s constantly anticipating her and David’s future life together (I don’t want to give too much away but there are various reasons this annoyed me) which just wound me up, to be honest! I didn’t like their relationship and I wanted her to realize that.
I have to say, though, that it’s interesting to read about how Grace changes over time. I liked the interactions between some characters (Nadia was particularly intriguing) and I felt that it was written beautifully – the sentences seemed to flow really well, making this enjoyable read.
A lot of the story centered around Grace’s love for cellos and other instruments, something that I don’t have a lot of knowledge in but which allowed me to find out more about this, which I liked. I wanted to know more about Grace’s relationship with various characters and found this to be really interesting.
Overall, I think this is a beautifully written story which feels a bit different – recommended.
[Rating: 4/5]
Many thanks to Simon & Schuster for providing a copy of this novel on which I chose to write an honest and unbiased review.