Amazing Grace

by Lesley Crewe

Can you really move forward without putting the past to rest?
Grace Willingdon has everything she needs. For fifteen years she’s lived in a trailer overlook- ing Bras d’Or Lakes in postcard-perfect Baddeck, Cape Breton, with Fletcher Parsons, a giant teddy bear who’s not even her husband. But Grace’s blissful life is rudely interrupted when her estranged son calls from New York City, worried about his teenaged daughter.
Before she knows it, Grace finds herself the temporary guardian of her self-absorbed, city-slicker granddaughter, Melissa. Trapped between a past she’s been struggling to resolve and a present that keeps her on her toes, Grace decides to finally tell her story. Either the truth will absolve her, or cost her everything.
Crackling with Lesley Crewe’s celebrated wit and humour, Amazing Grace is a heartfelt tale of enduring love and forgiveness, and the deep roots of family.

Genres: Fiction, Canada, Book Club, Family, Ebooks, Contemporary

352 pages, Paperback

First published September 5, 2015

About the author

Lesley grew up in Montreal, PQ. After graduating from Concordia University with a degree in English and Education, she and her hubby settled down in Homeville, Cape Breton and raised a family.

From 2000-2005, Lesley was a features writer and columnist (Home Fires) for Cape Bretoner Magazine, and from 2005-2009, a columnist (Lesley's Letters) with the on-line magazine, Cahoots.

In 2005 her first novel, Relative Happiness, was published by Vagrant Press, the fiction imprint of Nimbus Publishing. It was an instant bestseller, and was shortlisted for the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award. She has since written nine other novels.

In 2012, Relative Happiness was optioned for film, and in 2014, Lesley's characters came to life on the big screen. The movie was produced by Wreckhouse Productions, directed by Deanne Foley, and stars Australian Melissa Bergland (Winners and Losers), and homegrown Canadian talent like Susan Kent (This Hour has 22 Minutes), Jonathan Torrens (Mr. D, Trailer Park Boys), and Rob Welles (Trailer Park Boys).

Reviews

[Genevieve Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of times I read reviews where people say things like, "I laughed, I cried, etc" and I've written those, too. But this time ... wow. I really mean it. I absolutely love Ms Crewe's writing. Amazing Grace was open and honest, plunging unexpectedly into very dark and painful situations, then returning time and time again to dance with hope. The dialogue was perfect - easy, relatable, and very, very real. Ms Crewe has created a masterpiece with Amazing Grace. I didn't want it to end. Of course every story has to end at some point, but she kept it going, extending the reader's experience just enough. Even after I closed the cover, I knew I would never forget Grace. Wish I could head up to Sydney and say hi sometime.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing Grace by Lesley Crewe is one amazing novel. The carefully woven plot and well developed, realistic characters create for the reader a novel that you wish would never end. There are tears, laughter and wonderment as you learn about Grace's life. We follow this courageous, independent, damaged women's life from childhood to a 'reborn' women in her 60's. The story takes place mainly in Cape Breton Island, Canada.
Lesley Crewe is a Canadian writer and this book was featured at my library as a Together we Read. This was my first book to read by this author. I am looking forward to reading her other books.

[Christie (The Ludic Reader)]

Holy ol’ Jesus, Amazing Grace is awful. So awful that if it hadn’t been chosen for book club, I would have abandoned it right around the time that Amazing Grace Willingdon, 60, flies off to New York City from her trailer in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, to help her estranged millionaire son, Jonathan, rescue her teenage granddaughter, Melissa, from making bad decisions. You know, the kind that you make because you are sixteen.

We are to understand that Grace is a firecracker because she doesn’t suffer fools easily, the church women give her indigestion and she yells “asshole” at drivers who speed past her. It’s not her fault that she’s curmudgeonly; Grace has had a hard life including a duel with cancer (which she won), a sham marriage and a childhood as a member of a religious cult where she and her sister (Ave Maria – not a joke) and their mother, Trixie, were repeatedly raped by the cult leader. I wish I could say that these are the only difficulties that Grace endures, but amazingly (see what I did there) they are not.

That’s at least part of the problem with Amazing Grace. When I tried to explain the story to my son, Connor, I found that I could not adequately convey the number of ridiculous things that happened to this character or the number of times she was saved by her inheritance or her son’s private jet or just old-fashioned serendipity. But the bigger problem in Nova Scotian writer Lesley Crewe’s book is the writing itself. It’s just…bad.

I point my finger in his face. “You are going straight to hell, Ed Wheeler. You have the devil inside you and we all know what happens to evil people. They burn forever. The very thought of it makes me giddy. You tried to destroy me, but you didn’t. You tried to possess me but you couldn’t. I am the powerful one now. The tables have turned, you creep. You have no one. You are a big nobody. You will never cross my mind again, because I win, you bastard. I win.

I live in New Brunswick – right next door to Nova Scotia – so this landscape and these people should at least be familiar to me. On top of that, I am just a few years shy of Grace’s age; she’s my contemporary. But she’s not even remotely believable to me. I have never once overslept and yelled “Holy macaroni.” I can’t imagine being a grandmother and chasing my granddaughter down the hall, grabbing her from behind and then hauling her “squirming and yelling” back to the kitchen to apologize for a snotty comment because words are “the most powerful force of all.” It’s all so melodramatic and over-the-top.

Ultimately, this is a book about family – our biological family and the family we choose. But the book is so overstuffed and the writing so pedestrian that I just couldn’t have cared any less for these people.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cleverly written. Descriptions place you directly in time and place. Just couldn't put it down. This story covers many topics while neatly tying them together in a real page turner.

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this book was truly a wonder. My emotions ran the gamut from laughter to tears, sometimes on the same page. Grace is totally amazing, surviving one tragedy after another, without the story ever becoming maudlin or unrealistic. Surrounded by a wonderful cast of characters, filled with joy and pain in equal measure, she prevails over a lifetime of loss to pull a disparate group of people together to form a large, happy family. It is just so joyful.

I was unfamiliar with the author until I saw this book on a library shelf, but now I've requested every book they have by her. She has now joined my list of terrific east coast writers like Lisa Moore and Joel Hynes. Exciting discovery.

[Gaynor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the kind of book that when you finish you dare not start another too soon. Grace's life story cannot simply be tucked away with the turning of the last page.
The author's insightful view on human behaviour, inter family relationships, and life with pets, is so on the button. As Grace's character grows into a woman capable of forgiveness and closure, the novel hit on so many of my own real life and true to nature experiences that at times felt quite uncanny.
Looking forward to reading more by Cape Breton author, Lesley Crewe.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a reader, I believe that something magic can happen when a writer can create characters that we can love throughout the story. Lesley Crewe does just that in "Amazing Grace"and her female protagonist Grace is a complete gem. I'm ashamed to admit that I wasn't aware of Lesley Crewe before this book, but I guarantee that she now has my attention.

[Antoinette · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 STARS,
I picked up this book because the libraries across Canada were doing a Together we Read program. I enjoyed the book despite a few flaws. Amazing Grace was our main protagonist- her son needs her help with his teenage daughter. Grace decides to tell her granddaughter and then her son all about the horrors of her childhood. Her story is the impetus that helps bring them together. I know a story has to move forward, but there were too many coincidences and too perfect an ending. Nonetheless, it kept me engaged throughout.
Quote I liked: "No matter how deeply we bury ourselves, our true essence stays with us, even when we think it's gone"

[Eileen Mackintosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another Lesley Crewe novel that I enjoyed. Such an easy writing style to read and lots of characters that I care about. I like the aspect of forgiveness in the story. When secrets are revealed they can explain one person’s behaviour so that another person can forgive them. Being even a bit older than Grace, I was able to relate to her a fair bit. “It’s hard for me to believe I’ve weathered sixty years. Inside I’m still twenty.” (Pg 210) “You forget that elderly people are just young people who’ve been hanging around for a while. Nothing changes inside. Perhaps that’s why our childhoods still have such sway over us.” (Pg 229) #indigoemployee

[Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t believe this is only the 2nd book I’ve read by Lesley Crewe.
I will be looking for more by her.
Fabulous book!

A real page turner - read the entire book in 2 sessions.

A well crafted story of Grace’s life; shocking events mixed with tender, heart warming ones. I cried and laughed and was sorry when the book ended.

[Chloe Kenney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This turns into such a powerful and moving book. It has Lesley’s humour but it also has some very dark and twisty pieces. Absolutely understand why it’s her second most popular on goodreads. Love it.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This writer impressed me. She could take a very horrible topic and bring us to the brink, but then turn it around to the point that we felt hope.

Amazing Grace has lived for fifteen years in a trailer with her friend, Fletcher. It is a platonic relationship, but she is contented.

Over the many years she has often tried to find her estranged sister and mother, having been abandoned in a commune when she was a child.

The story takes us through Grace's life and its turmoils. I love how no matter how bad things seem, Grace always can pull herself up and make the best of things.

A great read.

[Natasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's official: Lesley Crewe is one of my favourite authors. Her books are so easy to read. Even though there were some heavy parts in this story, it was well done. Good pace, and great story. I enjoyed the Canadian settings.

[Salty Swift · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lesley Crewe's novel is an intense story of love, loss and redemption. Grace Willingdon is a woman in her 60s who's living her retirement out in a quiet Cape Breton town. Together with her best friend Fletcher, dogs and cats, she's content with things as they are until one fateful day. That's when her NYC-based son calls. He needs his mom's help with Melissa - his teen daughter. She welcomes her granddaughter to her home and over time reveals her lifestory. We learn Grace was raised with her mom and older sister in a commune, where she was molested by a cult leader. Her mom and sister escaped the commune leaving her completely alone and ruderless. After several foster homes, she was adopted by her aunts from Cape Breton, where she finally experienced love and bond of family. The longer her story dwells into her past love, hurt and family conflict, the more stubborn Grace is to gel and bring her family together into a cohesive whole. Told with brusque humour, Amazing Grace is a beautiful and haunting tale of family bonds, strife and ultimate redemption.

[Bree · Rating 4 out of 5]

My third Crewe novel, gobbled up in one sitting because you get invested with her books. Amazing Grace is 3.5 stars. Almost a 4 but A-LOT happened to poor darling Grace. Honestly I just would love to sit in the trailer with her and Fletcher and hear them talk.

[Lesley Carson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Highly compelling read, very fleshed out protagonist, but sometimes disingenuous story-telling, Amazing Grace was author Lesley Crewe's first chance with this Lesley. The book is divided into "Then" and "Now" chapters and while the "Then" parts have a real write-what-you-know feel, the "Now" sections seem not to be gleaned from lived experience, rather media reports.
"Then" takes the reader into the tumultuous early life of Amazing Grace Fairchild, escaping cults, losing her mother, living through foster care and this area of the book feels bang on, puts you right in there with Grace. It is a shame when those chapters end...
...More of a shame because the end of "Then" means the beginning of a "Now". The subject matter deals with cyber bullying and contemporary slut shaming and it reads like a mirror of a mirror of a mirror. The teenage character in the limelight falls quite flat in comparison to Grace.
This would have been forgivable, but my annoyance put me on edge while reading and I found some sloppy phrasing along the way that may have been missed if I wasn't looking.
Overall, I did like the book, shed some tears here and there, and quickly turned the pages based on the strength of the "Then" chapters. The primary setting in Cape Breton was a plus. I will likely give Crewe a second chance but will try something pre-Relative Happiness when I hope the author and her editor were trying a little harder.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing Grace and her sister Ave Maria lived on a commune with their mother, Trixie. The commune/cult was run by a lecherous man who raped the children as well as their mothers. Trixie made plans to run away with her two daughters but Grace was left behind. Thinking her mother didn't have the chance to come back to fetch her, it made a mark on her for the rest of her life. She bounced from foster family to foster family until two elderly aunts in Cape Breton found her and brought her "home". She credits these women for saving her life.

The story follows Grace as her long estranged divorced son has a teenage daughter who is out of control and he needs help. What follows is a wonderful story of family, regrets, coming to terms with the past, closure and above all, love. I liked this book because it takes place largely in Cape Breton here in Nova Scotia with a plain speaking woman who is fragile underneath but finds reserves of strength she didn't know she had. I like the way the characters are written and the way they speak. They are very real.

[Golfergirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

After starting to read this book I realized I had seen the movie. As usual the book was much better than the movie, at least as I remembered it. It is an interesting story with lots of ups and downs. The protagonist is likeable, the writing goes smoothly but sometimes Grace’s actions prove frustrating. But I guess that’s life actually. Grace, her mother and her sister were members of a cult. The book tells of Grace’s life after a dramatic event at the home of the cult. The background is difficult to read but Grace’s determination is inspiring. The situation she arose from should never have been able to happen. But this story also tells us that not everything is what we think it is. A good read.

[Jill Robbertze · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little gem......easy reading, entertaining and engaging. A family saga across 3 generations. The story unfolds back and forth in time. This book has a bit of everything from surviving abuse, missing family members, love, life, death and redemption. My only disappointment was that it was a little too good to be true the way the loose ends were all neatly buttoned up in the end.........but then again it's a lovely change from some of the tougher non-fiction books that I read a lot.

[Linda Power · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing Grace is an amazing story. Beautifully written, the reader follows the life of Amazing Grace Fairchild. We follow her through the highs the lows and the chaos of her life. It is never to late to correct the mistakes of the past and to forgive the wrongs.

[PAUL STARR · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you read only one book this year, this is the one. While reading, keep several boxes of Kleenex nearby. You will need them all. Amazing Grace Fairchild recounts her fascinating story that starts on a commune near Guelph Ontario and ends at a lakeside farmhouse on Cape Breton Island. Her mother, Trixie, a rebellious “hippy-dippy” type leaves the family home in Nova Scotia with her two young daughters, Ava Maria and Amazing Grace to join a religious cult run by a fanatic sex maniac and abuser named Ed Wheeler. Wheeler keeps Trixie and her girls on a short leash, raping Trixie almost every night and forcing himself on the daughters as they reach puberty.

Trixie realizes that she must escape to save her girls, but only Trixie and Ava Maria manage to leave the encampment, leaving Grace behind. When the compound burns down, Grace must survive the harsh environment of the Ontario foster care network where she is moved from home to home. Two great aunts, Pearl and Mae, who live in Cape Breton, find Grace, and with tough love and discipline help to give her a second chance at life.

You cannot help but to fall in love with Amazing Grace as she in turn provides adoration, knowledge and street-smarts to her young granddaughter, advice and support to her son, companionship and love to her best friend Fletcher, and a loving home for assorted dogs and cats.

As the novel moves forward, we find Amazing Grace always trying to build new bridges and to find out why she was abandoned by her mother so many years ago. The reader is introduced to an array of both delightful and sometimes down-right evil characters that all manage to make some impact on Graces’ life. In the end, it’s all about family and Amazing Grace is the catalyst that creates and then strengthens the bonds that keep the family together.

Lesley Crew was raised in Montréal and graduated from Concordia University. For the last forty-five years she has lived in Homeville, Cape Breton.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating given strictly because I totally enjoyed this book, became 'wrapped up and cozy' with it, and read in a day and a half. A Canadian author I had previously not known about. The locale (Baddeck, Cape Breton) so very appealing to me as I was born in Cape Breton and lived there as a small child. The characters - oh how I could relate to the Cape Bretoners. And the aunts - exactly as mine spoke and would have behaved in the same circumstances. A story of a courageous woman's life - starting with her mother taking she and her sister to a Toronto commune where they were routinely raped by the leader. A dramatic and life-altering escape. Foster homes. Great-aunts being found and going to live in Cape Breton. Attending college at Dalhousie University in Halifax - a fortunate/unfortunate marriage - then an unlikely life following. Unless you're familiar with the mentality, tenaciousness, wisdom of the people from that area, this story might seem highly improbable - but not to me. Highly recommend.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a very long time since I read an entire novel in one sitting but I just couldn't put this book down. I always like the characters Lesley Crewe creates, and as a lifelong Maritimer so many aspects remind of people I know. I appreciate how many of the female characters are strong, intelligent woman with a streak of independence. There did seem to be a tad too many things happening, one after another, so that the last quarter of the book felt chaotic compared to the first three quarters. I disagree though with some reviews that claim everything seemed to have unrealistically happy endings. Just because characters learn to accept how life events turned out doesn't mean that they are happy about every outcome. This book is no fairytale.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a huge fan of Lesley Crewe’s writing, but this is one of her earlier works and it shows. She has improved significantly since Amazing Grace. My problem with the story doesn’t kick in until 3/4 of the way through. At that point, emotional responses of the main character, Amazing Grace, suddenly return to what they were in the first few chapters, despite no evidence of that in the rest of the book. It actually makes sense as a delayed trauma response, but this isn’t explained or even hinted at so it seems to come out of left field. Then, in the final quarter of the book, there is a heck of a lot suddenly going on that needs to be resolved. It gets resolved but by that time I’m ready for the story to be over because it’s no longer quite as believable.

[Magdelanye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amazing Grace is a fairy tale for adults, and as such it is possible to race through the trails and tribulations of a protagonist quite the opposite of the traditional prince charming without getting too stuck on the inconsistencies or the uneven quality of the writing.

I'd give this 3.5 stars or 4 out of 7 (my system)

[Ronni · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because it was on the front page of the Toronto Public Library e-Books site as its choice for their Together We Read program.
I'm glad I decided to read it. It was an easy enjoyable read. The author has a flow to her writing that made me instantly like the main character and her story.

[Noella Allisen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The further I got into the story and got connected to the characters the less I was aware of the stilted writing style. This is a good story about friendships, family and the power of love. It had me laughing and crying too. I definitely recommend it.

[Mary B · Rating 5 out of 5]

You should multiply my rating by at least 100 - that's how this book has made me feel. I don't know what I should do about the "Amazing Lesley Crewe". Just when I think I cannot like (no, love) her books any more than I already do, I read another (I don't have many left at this point, so I hope she's busy). I'm not sure I can adequately describe how this book made me feel. I do know that when I read some of the already existing reviews, all I could do was nod in agreement with them.
Yes, The Spoon Stealer, and then Nosy Parker, and until now The Recipe for A Good Life all captivated me. But Amazing Grace completely stole my heart and, quite possibly, my soul. Oh, the feels; the feels!
I do not want to go into details because I feel it will have a more powerful impact on a reader who has no or few preconceptions.
We travel back and forth among settings in Ontario, Cape Breton, and New York City. We encounter many lovable, messed-up, wonderful people, as well as some who are downright evil. There is darkness in this book. There is Lesley Crewe's trademark humour. There is mystery; there is romance; there is life; there is death - topics run the gamut. Crewe is at her best in this book, IMO.
You will laugh, you will cry, you will mourn, you will celebrate, you will be outraged, you will be pleased, and more.
I loved Grace, the character, warts & all. Thank you, Lesley Crewe. I LOVED this book!! You will too!

[Annette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lesley wrote a fantastic book with a woven plot and well-developed, realistic characters. I enjoyed this book so much that I will be reading more of Crewe's novels.

Grace is a courageous and independent woman. She has lived a damaged life from childhood, living in a commune to a survivor in her 60s.

Grace gains a lot of support from living in a platonic relationship with Fletcher. Both are content in such a relationship.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing Grace by Lesley Crew takes place in Baddeck, Cape Bretton, Nova Scotia.

It is a story about love forgiveness, and family roots which is told in two timelines

It has many layers, and it took me on an emotional roller coaster ride; a novel that I won't soon forget.

I recommend to other Lesley Crew fans, and people who like mystery, mixed with family roots.

Note: Adult content.