A Thread of Grace

A Novel

By: Mary Doria Russell

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

Length: 19 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best seller • "A powerfully imagined novel...[a] profoundly moving book that engages the heights and depths of human experience." (Los Angeles Times)

It is September 8, 1943, and 14-year-old Claudette Blum and her father are among the thousands of Jewish refugees scrambling over the Alps toward Italy, where they hope to find safety now that the Italians have broken from Germany and made a separate peace with the Allies. The Blums will soon discover that Italy is anything but peaceful, as it quickly becomes an open battleground for the Nazis, the Allies, Resistance fighters, Jews in hiding, and ordinary Italian civilians trying to survive.

Tracing the lives of a handful of fascinating characters - a charismatic Italian Resistance leader, a priest, an Italian rabbi’s family, a disillusioned German doctor - Mary Doria Russell tells the little-known story of the vast underground effort by Italian citizens who saved the lives of 43,000 Jews during the final phase of World War II. A Thread of Grace puts a human face on history.

Praise for A Thread of Grace

"Rich... Based on the heroism of ordinary people, [A Thread of Grace] packs an emotional punch." (People)

"[A] deeply felt and compellingly written book... The progress of each character’s life is marked or measured by acts of grace.... Russell is a smart, passionate and imaginative writer." (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

"A feat of storytelling...an important book [that] needs to be widely read." (Portland Oregonian)

"Mary Doria Russell’s fans (and aren’t we all?) will rejoice to see her new novel on the shelves. A Thread of Grace is as ambitious, beautiful, tense, and transforming as any of us could have hoped." (Karen Joy Fowler, author of The Jane Austen Book Club)

"A story of love and war, A Thread of Grace speaks to the resilience and beauty of the human spirit in the midst of unimaginable horror. It is, unquestionably, a literary triumph." (David Morrell, author of The Brotherhood of the Rose and First Blood)

©2005 Mary Doria Russell (P)2005 Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

“A powerfully imagined novel . . . [a] profoundly moving book that engages the heights and depths of human experience.” (Los Angeles Times)

“An addictive page-turner . . . [Mary Doria] Russell has an astonishing story to tell - full of action, paced like a rapid-fire thriller, in tense, vivid scenes that move with cinematic verve.” (The Washington Post Book World)

“Hauntingly beautiful, utterly unforgettable.” (San Francisco Chronicle)

I loved the story and the narrator

The book is amazing and deserves accolades for itself, but what I'm really enjoying about the audiobook is the reader, Cassandra Campbell. Her voice is clear and warm. With her accents, the difference between the pronunciation of Germanic German and Austrian German is quite clear in her voice. Both of these are, of course, completely distinguishable from her French and Italian. The accents help define the characters with the one's light high Italian and another's harsh Black Forest German. Also I find, that I can easily distinguish between male and female characters without a lot of false barritone from Campbell. I'm going to look for other works read by her.

Book left me sad and empty....

I enjoyed the book so much so, that the following week, the author came to my city for a book reading and I had to go. I found myself so involved with the characters. I was left empty and very sad at the conclusion of the book. That sadness remained for a couple of weeks. My only recommendation would be to utilize different accents for the various characters.

deeply emotional but too long

Where does A Thread of Grace rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This ranks in the top half of the books I've listened to. I finished it! I enjoyed it, but it was a bit slow.

What was one of the most memorable moments of A Thread of Grace?

When the book finally gets near the conclusion and all the story threads come together it was quite engaging. It just took a bit too long to get there.

What about Cassandra Campbell’s performance did you like?

The characters were well read and distinguishable. As usual, female narrators do the women better than the men, but overall still quite nice.

Any additional comments?

The book covers a forgotten (at least from the US) part of world war II and does a great job of making the period come alive.

I had no idea......

Having grown up in the years immediately following WWII, I thought that I had heard all of the "war stories". Having married a first generation Italian, I thought that I knew alot about the Italian involvement in WWII. This book did something that few books can do for me: it told me a story that I had never heard of before. Such grace under fire, such fine humanity, such noble characters. This is a magnificent book and something that I wish I had read MUCH earlier!

Difficult but worth the effort

This book is not an easy read or listen. I came to this after The Sparrow and Children of God, and was not disappointed though it was a very different book. Still rich in characters and moral quandaries which are not lightly solved. I remain impressed by this author

Enjoyed, but hard to follow

Very inspiring story. I was completely engaged, but there are so many characters it can be hard to follow. The hard copy has a listing of characters. It would be helpful to have this in Audible as well.

My favorite book by my favorite author

Sometimes when you read or listen to a book a moment will have an incredible impact on you. There is a moment early in this book that is so heartbreaking and beautifully written that I think about it every time I used the highway exit I was on when I first heard it. Campbell's performance of this wonderful book is a favorite of mine. And I come back to it at least once a year. It never gets old for me. #Audible20

Amazing performance!

Amazing performance, flawless delivery of several characters and accents. Wondrous glimpse of a thread of grace

Amazing book - one of the best

I have listened to this twice. A Thread of Grace is graceful, beautifully written, and very sad. If you like historical fiction that leaves you more informed and empathic, read this novel.

Outstanding

Amazing story. Both uplifting and heartbreaking. The character were beautifully written. I leaned a lot I didn’t know about the resistance in Italy.