Book Description
Friendship sustains and enriches women's lives in way's
no romantic or family relationship ever can. A source of
solace, support, and nourishment, it is a tie that powerfully
connects woman to woman in unforgettable, joyous, sometimes
painful ways. In this wonderfully warm, humorous, and moving
novel, Patricia Gaffney paints a rich portrait of this
delicate yet resilient bond through the lives of four
charming. vividly real women.
For ten years, Emma, Rudy, Lee. and Isabel have shared a
deep affection that has helped them deal with husbands,
lovers, careers, childrenthe ebb and flow of expectations and
disappointments common to us all. Calling themselves the
Saving Graces, the quartet is united by understanding,
honesty, and acceptancean ephemeral connection that has grown
stronger as the years go by . . .
Emma, a sharp-tongued. soft-hearted skeptic, doesn't
believe in loveuntil she meets the one man she can't have.
For her, the Saving Graces are fall-breakers
extraordinaire. She believes that "bad news doesn't
hurt as much if you hear it in good company."
A beauty with an extraordinary gift for love and a shaky,
dysfunctional past, Rudy is desperately trying to hold on to
her deeply troubled marriage. She's not sure where she'd be
without the Saving Graces. "I don't know why my friends
bother with me, I'm so high-maintenance. I would run if I saw
me coming. But they're always so patient and
supportive."
Lee, whom they all are sure is "the normal one,"
longs for a baby. But her overwhelming desire for motherhood
threatens to destroy an idyllic marriage. The Saving Graces
are the sounding board on which she unburdens her hopes and
fears. "I know I'm consumed by our infertility, and
that's nor fair to Henry . . . . He says I blame everything
that's wrong with my whole life, on the fact that we
can't have children. It's true, I know. I'm driving him
away."
Isabel, the oldest, is a survivor whose wisdom and
strength were forged by the worst trials life can offer.
Divorced and free, she's falling for her single, attractive
neighbora man she's sure must be gay. Hers is the guiding
insight that propels and grounds the Saving Graces.
"We're all productive, tolerably sane, functioning
adults, we Graces, with no more emotional baggagewell, except
for Rudythan you would expect in a random sampling of aging
yuppie women. And yet our childhoods were disasters.
Occasionally we four play the intriguing `What keeps us
together?' game, and the fact that we all survived our
childhoods is mentioned early and often."
Though these sisters of the heart and soul have seen it
all, talked through it all, Emma, Rudy, Lee, and Isabel will
not be prepared for a crisis of astounding proportions that
will put their love, loyalty, and courage to the ultimate
test. Captivating from first page to last, this mesmerizing
story illuminates the emotional links that define and join us
as women. While men, jobs, and crises may come and go,
nothing lasts like true friendship. Funny, inspirational,
joyous, and oh-so-true, The Saving Graces is a novel
no reader will forget; a story to be passed from friend to
friend.
