Saving Grace - by Lee Smith (Paperback)

About the Book

The confession of a preacher's daughter. Turned off religion early in life, Florida Grace Shepherd marries at the first opportunity, only to "backslide" into adultery. By the time she is 33, she feels like an old bag. But one day Grace discovers she has her father's gift for giving meaning to people's lives and she returns to religion, picking up where her father left off. By the author of The Devil's Dream.

Book Synopsis

This is why I have had to come back now, traveling these dusty old back roads one more time. For I mean to tell my story, and I mean to tell the truth. I am a believer in the Word, and I am not going to flinch from telling it, not even the terrible things...

Florida Grace Shepherd, eleventh child of the itinerant, snake-handling Reverend Virgil Shepherd, grew up traveling across the Appalachian South. In her heart, she raged against the constant hardships that her parents insisted were part of the Lord's plan. As she got older, she learned of her father's "backsliding" with other women, and watched as it drove her mother to an early grave.

Returning to Scrabble Creek, where her happiest memories took place, Grace recounts the harrowing journey of her life with the Lord, from her travels with her father to the day she finally broke free of him only to marry another preacher much older than she, as well as her own stumbles along the rocky and winding path to her own redemption.

Review Quotes

Praise for SAVING GRACE:

"Evocative...Lyric, poetic and subtly cosmic...her best yet." --San Francisco Chronicle

"Lucid in execution, breathtaking in scope and hear-rending in effect--a redemptive work of art." --The Washington Post Book World

"A Compelling journey into all matters southern and spiritual." --The Boston Sunday Globe

"Smith is peerless at evoking an entire world with a detail or two...The comedy is rich, and the sense of place is intense." --Detroit Free Press

About the Author

Lee Smith was born in Grundy, VA. She is author of many novels, including the New York Times bestseller The Last Girls, and most recently Guests On Earth. She is a recipient of the Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the North Carolina Award for Literature, and a Southern Book Critics Circle Award.