Amazing Grace Adams

A Novel

By: Fran Littlewood

Narrated by: Claire Skinner

Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times Bestseller

A Today Show #ReadwithJenna Book Club Pick

"I dare you not to fall wildly in love with Grace...It's a book about love, about grace, about even when we fall from those we love we can always find our way home...You will laugh on the first page and you will keep laughing until you're crying on the last page."―Jenna Bush Hager, The Today Show's #ReadwithJenna

"Well written and expertly narrated, this audiobook is a must-listen."—AudioFile

Bernadette, Eleanor Oliphant, Rosie, Ove . . . meet Amazing Grace Adams, the funny, touching, unforgettable story of an invisible everywoman pushed to the brink—who finally pushes back.

Grace Adams gave birth, blinked, and now suddenly she is forty-five, perimenopausal and stalled—the unhappiest age you can be, according to the Guardian. And today she’s really losing it. Stuck in traffic, she finally has had enough. To the astonishment of everyone, Grace gets out of her car and simply walks away.

Grace sets off across London, armed with a £200 cake, to win back her estranged teenage daughter on her sixteenth birthday. Because today is the day she’ll remind her daughter that no matter how far we fall, we can always get back up again. Because Grace Adams used to be amazing. Her husband thought so. Her daughter thought so. Even Grace thought so. But everyone seems to have forgotten. Grace is about to remind them . . . and, most important, remind herself.

©2023 Fran Littlewood (P)2023 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

An Instant New York Times Bestseller

An Indie Next Pick for September 2023

"Claire Skinner convinces listeners from the onset that she is the one and only amazing Grace Adams. With humor and sarcasm, Skinner portrays the formidable linguist, who has never wanted children. Instead she lands a dream job on a London TV show. But new motherhood eventually costs Grace her job. Then she discovers unexpected love. Skinner reveals the joy and anguish Grace experiences amid life's rocky twists. She maneuvers Grace's chaotic inner life seamlessly. Well written and expertly narrated, this audiobook is a must-listen." (AudioFile)

"Grace Adams is also the latest in a series of brilliant, beautiful and privileged protagonists (Amy Dunne, Bernadette Fox, Barbie) undone by the challenges of modern womanhood."—The New York Times Book Review

“A gripping story of joy, grief, stress, worry, love at first sight, parenting...frank, nuanced, and evocative.”—Kirkus

“Hugely enjoyable. Compelling, funny and poignant. I devoured it.”—Paula Hawkins, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Girl On The Train

So so

The narration was very good, but that didn’t save the story. It was really just meh.

Same old same old

This is the same story again and again. The crumbling woman. I’m disappointed. We are stronger than these novels.

Unexpected . . .

But not in a good way. I was anticipating a humorous and uplifting story but found neither to be the case. There were some parts I found amusing but never truly humorous. Also, the frequent leaps back and forth through various timeframes were quite difficult to follow in an audio version. It may be easier in print when the reader could quickly double check where they are in time, But when listening to an audible version, it was too ease to lose track of the storyline. Just as I got back on track with where we were in the story, the timeframe would change again. I found that to be distracting and too much “work.”

I think this is the kind of book…

that is better read than listened to. There are some confusing time back/forth chapters (4 months earlier, today, two days ago, two months ago, now) that may have read better in print. Additionally, because of the time stuff, the characters themselves are confusing (I thought the man in the beginning at the Linguistics convention was a a different man than her husband).

Anyway, all of that said., I enjoyed the book and found it compelling and relatable. The narration was fantastic also. I like when narrators only barely act and for the most part just read. I find non American narrators to be the best!

Hard to follow

Jumping from past, present kept me from following the story. I gave up even when it was highly recommended by my mom friends.

Too Long to get to the point save your credit!

It was excruciating trying to get to the end of this book. I disliked how it would flash back to the past and then back to the present so frequently. The book didn't start to get interesting until around the last few chapters. It was not a funny book the way it was advertised. I'm not sure how being perimenapausal had to do with anything with the story.

I have to agree there is too much back-and-forth. I wanted to give up and return it but I didn’t.

This is an odd story, and if you read my title, you know generally how I felt about it. However, the story is really about fractured family relationships, which most of us experience over time, and it was heartwarming to see that resolve in the end so while this will not be a topic for me, I had some satisfaction in finishing it.

Did Jenna Bush read this??

This is a really frustrating story. Not only the jumping back-and-forth in time but, the frustrating personalities of the characters. The writing is decent and the narration is done well However, the storyline makes it hard to follow and root for any of these weak characters
I can’t help but think a publishing house is now pushing Jenna to recommend books.

Disjointed

The back and forth timeline left me frustrated and confused. I often had no idea where in the story I was. The description of being funny and witty is mis leading, the story deals with *spoiler alert* sexual child abuse and child’s death. Not at all what I was expecting when I purchased based on the description. There was potential but sadly did not enjoy the surprise topics and the confusing timeline.

If you are grieving beware…

It took awhile to get into. It gets really good about half way through. If you are grieving it may be a difficult book for you. It’s a book about how grief can really mess you up! See a counselor and get medication if needed. Talk it out!