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About Grace
- Narrated by: George Newburn
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
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About Grace
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Summary
Beautifully written and compelling, About Grace is the brilliant debut novel from Anthony Doerr.
Growing up in Alaska, young David Winkler is crippled by his dreams. At nine, he dreams a man is decapitated by a passing truck on the path outside his family’s home. The next day, unable to prevent it, he witnesses an exact replay of his dream in real life. The premonitions keep coming, unstoppably. He sleepwalks during them, bringing catastrophe into his reach.
Then, as unstoppable as a vision, he falls in love, at the supermarket (exactly as he already dreamed) with Sandy. They flee south, landing in Ohio, where their daughter Grace is born. And then the visions of Grace’s death begin for Winkler, as their waterside home is inundated. Plagued by the same horrific images of Grace drowning, when the floods come, he cannot face his destiny and flees.
He beaches on a remote Caribbean island, where he works as a handyman, chipping away at his doubts and hopes, never knowing whether Grace survived the flood or met the doom he foretold. After two decades, he musters the strength to find out…
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Critic reviews
‘'I loved this wonderful book – its strangeness, its obsessiveness, its beautiful sentences.' Monica Ali
’Doerr's sublime renditions of Winkler's attunement to the world around him turn his story into a prolonged epiphany, a blissful parable about grace. This is a formidable literary achievement that, link Winkler's snow crystals, integrates facets and dimensions into near-perfect whole.' Independent
‘Doerr's gifts as a stylist are powerfully in evidence: his writing is crystalline, his attention to detail intense and evocative. That Doerr is a writer of exceptional gifts is not in question,
and there is much to admire in this novel.' Daily Telegraph
'Doerr writes wonderfully, lyrically, of the natural world, and his observations of water, snowflakes and clouds illuminate this impressive debut.' Guardian
‘Exceptional first novel. I hesitate to say this book will take your breath away because it's such a cliché; but, really, I promise you, it will… I can't remember when a novel so entranced me. The only criticism I can really muster – and it is rather a limp one – is that About Grace is almost inhumanely faultless; almost, but, even then, not quite.' Evening Standard
’In careful, measured prose conjures a sense of awe both humbling and salutary. It has the bleak, lucid beauty of a day of midwinter light. At its best when describing the minute, disregarded miracles of the natural world, it lingers in the mind like one of the protagonist's eerie dreams.' Daily Mail
‘About Grace is an intriguing exploration of fate and chance’ The Times
What listeners say about About Grace
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Chris Hardy
- 16-03-20
about selfless generosity
enjoyed this book (and I don't really know what else to say to fill this up)
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Scottie
- 02-11-17
Gentle story
Beautifully written supported by excellent narrator. Slightly odd and a little heavy on the detail at times but enjoyable none the less.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- T. Giles
- 03-01-22
beautifully written
beautifully written detail description, wanted so much more, felt it used too many words to get to the point. easy to keep up with characters. the journey ead a long one.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Em
- 22-04-22
Very different from All the Light We Cannot See
This book was OK, it kept me mildly interested but was far too long. Nothing like as good as All the Light We Cannot See unfortunately.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Debbie Diggle
- 09-01-22
the most boring book I've ever read!
I loved 'all the light we cannot see' and the reviews for this were great so I thought it would be good.
how wrong I was!
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Pip & Helen Lee
- 08-09-20
Boring
Could have been told in half the time. I lost interest third of way through!
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