What do you think?
Rate this book
Circle of Grace
All her adult life, Grace Benedict has been living a lie. Now that deception is about to catch up with her.
Thirty years ago, Grace and her college roommates--Liz, Tess, and Lovey--made a solemn vow: to hold onto their friendship, to support one another, to keep in touch through a circle journal that would make the rounds among them. And they promised always to tell each other the truth.
For three decades that journal has been circulating, carrying stories of Liz’s social justice activism in Atlanta and D.C.; of Tess’s fulfilling career and perfect home life; of Lovey’s dream marriage to a wealthy and powerful former pro football player.
But what is Grace to say? Her friends seem so happy and successful. She can’t bear to tell them how her life has spiraled downward since college, and she can’t bring herself to be honest about the dismal realities and bitter memories she faces every day.
She never intends to deceive them--not initially, anyway. She simply embellishes the truth a little, presents her life as a bit more respectable than it really is. But over the years one exaggeration leads to another, and the fiction grows. . . .
Until she discovers that she’s going to die.
Alone and desolate and with little left to lose, Grace determines to take the risk of a lifetime, to reach out to Liz and Tess and Lovey again. And when they reunite, her final battle becomes their struggle as well--a quest for trust, honesty, and enduring emotional connection.
Thirty years ago, Grace and her college roommates--Liz, Tess, and Lovey--made a solemn vow: to hold onto their friendship, to support one another, to keep in touch through a circle journal that would make the rounds among them. And they promised always to tell each other the truth.
For three decades that journal has been circulating, carrying stories of Liz’s social justice activism in Atlanta and D.C.; of Tess’s fulfilling career and perfect home life; of Lovey’s dream marriage to a wealthy and powerful former pro football player.
But what is Grace to say? Her friends seem so happy and successful. She can’t bear to tell them how her life has spiraled downward since college, and she can’t bring herself to be honest about the dismal realities and bitter memories she faces every day.
She never intends to deceive them--not initially, anyway. She simply embellishes the truth a little, presents her life as a bit more respectable than it really is. But over the years one exaggeration leads to another, and the fiction grows. . . .
Until she discovers that she’s going to die.
Alone and desolate and with little left to lose, Grace determines to take the risk of a lifetime, to reach out to Liz and Tess and Lovey again. And when they reunite, her final battle becomes their struggle as well--a quest for trust, honesty, and enduring emotional connection.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
22 people are currently reading
414 people want to read
About the author
Penelope J. Stokes
44 books181 followersIt’s often been debated whether a person’s destiny lies in genetics or environment, but either way, I suppose I was destined to be a fiction writer. A Baby Boomer with an English teacher and a social worker for parents, I grew up being challenged to develop my imagination, and to seek out for myself the meaning and significance of life. I learned early both the magic and mystery of stories and the importance of people–their dreams, their hopes, their longings, their struggles.
From the age of four, when I first learned to read and discovered that words had incredible power, I dreamed of being a writer. But the fulfillment of that dream was a long time in coming. Ten years of university study, culminating in a Ph.D. in Renaissance Literature, led me to a career as a college professor. I loved teaching, loved the students and the challenge and the interaction, but the longing for full-time expression of my creativity never died. Finally, after twelve years of college teaching, I left the classroom and turned my energy toward my life’s passion–writing fiction.
In the process, I discovered another passion–the magnificent grandeur of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Western North Carolina.
I was raised in Mississippi, and as a child I remember family vacations to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I loved the undulating layers of blue and purple and green, the rushing streams coming down over the rocks, the cool glades and misty mornings. And now I live here—in the shadow of the Blue Ridge near DuPont Forest, where rare and remarkable white squirrels chatter wisdom to me from the trees outside my office window.
White squirrel in TamaracBut scenery can only take you so far. Fiction is about people. Not just what happens to them, but about what happens in them–the spiritual, emotional, and psychological passages that lead people to an understanding of their inner selves, and of one another. That’s what I like to write about: the heart, the mind, the soul. Authenticity of character and profound spiritual transformation. I want to draw my readers into a different kind of world–one marked by purpose, significance, and hope. Most importantly, hope.
Some readers have criticized me for dealing with uncomfortable subjects in my fiction–subjects which do not lend themselves to easy answers. The truth is, there are no easy answers in life. There are not even any easy questions. Over the years I’ve come to the conclusion that our character is determined not so much by the certainties we cling to, but by the uncertainties we are courageous enough to face.
At the end of the day, only a few things in life really matter: Love. Insight. Growth. Grace. When we’re committed to going deeper, to following the unknown path, our journey can lead us to an understanding of our own our inner being, to a connection with a power that is both within us and beyond us. And that understanding, that connection, gives meaning and purpose to our days.
From the age of four, when I first learned to read and discovered that words had incredible power, I dreamed of being a writer. But the fulfillment of that dream was a long time in coming. Ten years of university study, culminating in a Ph.D. in Renaissance Literature, led me to a career as a college professor. I loved teaching, loved the students and the challenge and the interaction, but the longing for full-time expression of my creativity never died. Finally, after twelve years of college teaching, I left the classroom and turned my energy toward my life’s passion–writing fiction.
In the process, I discovered another passion–the magnificent grandeur of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Western North Carolina.
I was raised in Mississippi, and as a child I remember family vacations to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I loved the undulating layers of blue and purple and green, the rushing streams coming down over the rocks, the cool glades and misty mornings. And now I live here—in the shadow of the Blue Ridge near DuPont Forest, where rare and remarkable white squirrels chatter wisdom to me from the trees outside my office window.
White squirrel in TamaracBut scenery can only take you so far. Fiction is about people. Not just what happens to them, but about what happens in them–the spiritual, emotional, and psychological passages that lead people to an understanding of their inner selves, and of one another. That’s what I like to write about: the heart, the mind, the soul. Authenticity of character and profound spiritual transformation. I want to draw my readers into a different kind of world–one marked by purpose, significance, and hope. Most importantly, hope.
Some readers have criticized me for dealing with uncomfortable subjects in my fiction–subjects which do not lend themselves to easy answers. The truth is, there are no easy answers in life. There are not even any easy questions. Over the years I’ve come to the conclusion that our character is determined not so much by the certainties we cling to, but by the uncertainties we are courageous enough to face.
At the end of the day, only a few things in life really matter: Love. Insight. Growth. Grace. When we’re committed to going deeper, to following the unknown path, our journey can lead us to an understanding of our own our inner being, to a connection with a power that is both within us and beyond us. And that understanding, that connection, gives meaning and purpose to our days.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 117 reviews
September 4, 2013
"Circle of Grace" was a read for an upcoming book club meeting. I liked it more than I thought I would; found it a quick and easy read, quite light overall, but not bad. Four college friends haven't really connected, other than in a round-robin journal, for over 30 years, and when one of them (Grace) learns she has incurable cancer, she decides to rally the girls for a meeting--and to explain that everything she has written in the journal for those decades was essentially lies, a life concocted to meet what she thought were others' expectations of her and standards. What the book reminds us of is the best side of truth, sharing and friendship. I didn't care for the over simplistic messages about some things (faith, for instance) and found the fact that almost all the men in the book are portrayed as real slumps (with the exception of one, Hal) more than a little biased. Really? ALL men are cheaters, deadbeats and emotionally detached? But by and large, this wasn't a bad choice for a late-summer read, and some of its messages are easily digested and appreciated.
August 17, 2012
This was a fantastic book about true friendship that stands the test of time, even through difficulties. It was also about the value and power of truth in love. It follows the lives of 4 women from their college years until their early 50s. In spite of sadness, it was an uplifting book that encourages people to value their own friendships more, to reach out to others and be true friends. This is not a Christian book, and the Christian aspects are extremely minor, but I appreciated that they were handled tastefully and not in a mocking way.
May 12, 2011
I read this through my book club, and if I'd chosen it for myself (which I never really would have), I wouldn't have finished it. I found it trite and poorly written, and it just got worse as it progressed. My book club talked a lot about the things we disliked about this book, so it probably wasn't just me.
July 13, 2017
The word that comes to mind is "rich". While the individual stories were a bit predictable in the beginning, the lessons learned from the characters' willingness to be vulnerable and open with one another we're beautifully drawn. The ending was one of the most spiritually up lifting that I've ever read.
October 4, 2009
Read on vacation for book group. Women in midlife crisis trying to reevaluate their lives and oops - someone has cancer... sorry - yawn.
December 11, 2017
I read this at the airport. Had I not been a captive audience, I may have quit. But I endured. The characters are trite and not likable. Go ahead and skip this one.
August 8, 2023
“We couldn’t have been more different, the four of us. Tess, the intellectual, the writer, the one who had poetry and storys running around in her head all the time. Liz, the radical, with her hard edges and her thick bright armor. And Grace, who I called the moral compass…the morality police…she wasn’t so much trying to control me as to protect me.”
After their college graduation, the girls make a pact to keep in touch via a circle journal as a “a kind of lifeline that bound us together.” As time passes and life happens, the circle journal becomes a shield behind which to hide the not-so-shiny truths from one another. When Grace receives a terminal diagnosis, she decides “it’s way past time we negotiated these friendships in person and extends an invitation for a weekend getaway in the mountains as “a tribute to the memory of a friendship that had endured…The gift of friendship that has endured for thirty years…the opportunity to find out whether that friendship can hold up under the weight of truth.”
Confession precedes reconciliation. God already knows our sins, but He calls us to confess them in community because He knows the power of speaking “the works to another human being out loud where she can hear them reverberate against her own eardrums, watch the reaction on human faces and in human eyes, receive the words of consolation–or condemnation–from human lips.”
“If her friends–flawed human beings–could accept her, weep with her over the wounds life had inflicted, embrace her without condemnation or judgment, what made her believe a supposedly loving deity would do any less?..That’s what spiritual life is like…The glory we experience in relationships, whatever we know of love and faith, is a reflection of something far behind our imagining…It’s a promise…They surrounded her, embracing her. A circle of blessing. A circle of grace.”
After their college graduation, the girls make a pact to keep in touch via a circle journal as a “a kind of lifeline that bound us together.” As time passes and life happens, the circle journal becomes a shield behind which to hide the not-so-shiny truths from one another. When Grace receives a terminal diagnosis, she decides “it’s way past time we negotiated these friendships in person and extends an invitation for a weekend getaway in the mountains as “a tribute to the memory of a friendship that had endured…The gift of friendship that has endured for thirty years…the opportunity to find out whether that friendship can hold up under the weight of truth.”
Confession precedes reconciliation. God already knows our sins, but He calls us to confess them in community because He knows the power of speaking “the works to another human being out loud where she can hear them reverberate against her own eardrums, watch the reaction on human faces and in human eyes, receive the words of consolation–or condemnation–from human lips.”
“If her friends–flawed human beings–could accept her, weep with her over the wounds life had inflicted, embrace her without condemnation or judgment, what made her believe a supposedly loving deity would do any less?..That’s what spiritual life is like…The glory we experience in relationships, whatever we know of love and faith, is a reflection of something far behind our imagining…It’s a promise…They surrounded her, embracing her. A circle of blessing. A circle of grace.”
March 15, 2025
This was a light and enjoyable book about the friendships that endure over the passage of time. Grace, Tess, Liz, and Lovey meet in college as they were assigned to be in a group project together. Each one comes from a different background, and as they leave college, they pass around a journal: a circle journal that would make its rounds and help them keep in touch. Over the years, each one embellished their accomplishment while downplaying failed relationships and life goals. Thirty years later, Grace invites them to a reunion in order to share something with them best done in person. They all accept. I like the way the author switches viewpoints between each character leading up to the reunion because it allows the reader to spend time getting to know each one. There were some cliche plot twists and one unresolved issue that I would have liked to have ended, but overall, a good read. I'd like to read more by this author.
May 29, 2021
Somewhere between 2 and 3 stars.
It's not a bad book, and I like the writing style. However, I personally didn't relate to Grace as much as the other characters (Tess and Liz especially) so that made it a little difficult to get through at times.
Also, the ending was a little frustrating. A car crash – really?? After the whole book leading up to her decision to either take her own life or choose to live with cancer, it seemed like a cop-out to have her die that way.... idk I guess maybe something could be said about her finally surrendering and accepting that she would die however it happened. 🤷🏽♀️ Anyway, not my fave, but I may check out other books by the author.
It's not a bad book, and I like the writing style. However, I personally didn't relate to Grace as much as the other characters (Tess and Liz especially) so that made it a little difficult to get through at times.
Also, the ending was a little frustrating. A car crash – really?? After the whole book leading up to her decision to either take her own life or choose to live with cancer, it seemed like a cop-out to have her die that way.... idk I guess maybe something could be said about her finally surrendering and accepting that she would die however it happened. 🤷🏽♀️ Anyway, not my fave, but I may check out other books by the author.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 10, 2017
Best of friends in college. As they graduate and head off into the world they create a circle journal that over the years goes from one to the next and around again. As close as these women were you'd think there wouldn't be as much stretching of truth and out-and-out deception in their journal entries. Fast forward . . . One of them is diagnosed with cancer. Grace has literally no one. In spite of all her "in-accurate" journal entries over the years, Grace reaches out and invites her college friends back to Asheville, NC for a reunion at the Grove Park Inn.
June 4, 2021
Usually if I finish a book I will give it 3 stars. Although I finished this one, I did not read it word for word. This book was suggested by our library's algorithm and I decided to give it a go. The story is a cliche, a plot that has been implemented many times. Four women become friends in college, and then we see how their lives have turned out over the years. The four women are not fully fleshed out as characters and there are the usual plot twists of infidelity, infertility, etc. But sometimes light reading is all you are up for and this one fits nicely.
November 7, 2021
Four college girls develop a friendship in their first year, they rent a house together and become like sisters. As adults they all go their separate ways with the promise of keeping in touch by circulating a journal between them. After thirty years a meeting is arranged by Grace to tell her friends something huge. What they all don't know is how their real lives are so far from what they've written in the journal over the years. Circle Of Grace is full of growth, forgiveness, realizations, tragedies, acceptance and love. I enjoyed this novel very much.
March 7, 2022
I started out with this book not really knowing what to expect or if I'd be able to relate to the characters seeing as it is about an older group of women. I tend to really enjoy books about women's friendships and this was no different.
I enjoyed getting to know each of the characters and the way the story was written. There are some questions left unanswered but sometimes that's okay. This novel is an uplifting story about being true to yourself, the importance of friendship and family. It has a great message and I enjoyed reading it.
I enjoyed getting to know each of the characters and the way the story was written. There are some questions left unanswered but sometimes that's okay. This novel is an uplifting story about being true to yourself, the importance of friendship and family. It has a great message and I enjoyed reading it.
August 24, 2017
I thoroughly enjoyed this book about friendship, truth and the strength revealed in being vulnerable. The four friends each have different dreams, skill sets and flaws and yet I naturally connected to them all. I was very pulled into the story. Wisdom is discovered and eloquently spoken in the dialogue and character's reflections. Inspiring.
May 14, 2024
This was a sweet book about true friendship and the reality of life. It put into perspective how true friends don’t judge and how the truth is freeing. I can’t say this was my favorite book and I definitely had no prob setting it down for weeks on end but it was cute.
January 16, 2025
4.5 STARS
Somewhat a spoiler:
BUT, BUT... Was Tess's Claire Grace's Claire?? Like come on. It was sort of acknowledged, but there was never a definitive yes or no! (Unless I didn't read it correctly .) 😫
Otherwise, it was a good book, and I cried towards the end. 🥺💜
Somewhat a spoiler:
BUT, BUT... Was Tess's Claire Grace's Claire?? Like come on. It was sort of acknowledged, but there was never a definitive yes or no! (Unless I didn't read it correctly .) 😫
Otherwise, it was a good book, and I cried towards the end. 🥺💜
October 24, 2018
I wouldn't have read this book if it hadn't appeared on my "Goodreads" list. I enjoyed it very much. Women supporting each other. A lesson we all need. Sooner, rather that later. ❤
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 23, 2019
A sweet story of enduring friendship and redemption. It reminds us that no one goes through life unscathed. And tragedies/disappointments shared are often halved
October 25, 2019
Enjoyed the book until the last few chapters.
November 28, 2019
This is the first book I have read by Penelope Stokes; I eagerly await reading more of her words. Her characters and themes feel real, as she skillfully shares life lessons.
January 31, 2020
predictable, depressing and quick redemption at the end, but for what?
July 18, 2021
This book started off slow, but I stuck with it. The book is a great look into the lives of 4 women. Loved it.
October 12, 2016
Good story, but too melodramatic and too many stereotypes, including the female leads but ESPECIALLY the men. There is the overbearing husband, the 'good' husband, and the various others who are just included to remind us that men are unfaithful and untrustworthy as partners.
July 3, 2012
I LOVED this book! I wish I could give it 4-1/2 stars cause I wouldn't really say "it was amazing" but I did really really like it and enjoyed reading it.
It's not a book for everyone---I'd call it definitely a "chic book". It's about 4 ladies that become BFF's in college. Upon graduation they decide to do a circle journal between them---write in it, mail it to the next girl, she reads what is there, writes what she's been doing, and mails it to the next person, etc. They do this for 30 years until one of them decides to confess the truth---she's been lying in the journal the whole time! Her life is nothing like her journal life and she wants to get the ladies together so she can be honest with them face to face.
You get to know all 4 ladies and some of their joys and heartaches as an invitation to a reunion has them all reflecting on their lives and accompliments and mistakes.
A great story about the power of girlfriends and living true to yourself. A time to reflect about the "face" you put on for others to see and the real you in private. You reflect about your own life and what you say in Christmas letters :) and what kind of a friend you are to others.
MY FAVORITE, BOOK SUMMING UP QUOTE:
"She had lived so long in shame, had been so concerned with the image she projected to these friends. How much love and laughter and friendship and shared pain had she missed, cloistered away in her shell, afraid to admit her failings and reveal herself? How many years of comfort and solace and connection had she denied herself---and denied them, in turn?"
Some of my OTHER FAVORITE lines:
"If memory was carried in blood, Amanda had slit a vein."
"I've become aware that I've somehow lost myself. Not lost the person I was earlier in my life, but rather lost the woman I might have become if I had chosen a diffferent path."
"That's what the counseling process is like. Letting all the dark things out of Pandora's box to get to the hope at the bottom."
"Even extravagant wealth could not shield a soul from anguish."
"She didn't want to come across as a Big Important Person. Her accomplishments, she reasoned, might make them feel worse about their own lives. But the more she though about it, the more convinced she became that withholding the truth had its roots in pride, not humility. It was a flimsy rationalization at best, and the very fact that she had considered it testified to her own unachnowledged arrogance.....Did she really think that she was superior because she had a fulfilling marriage, and amazing daughter, and a successful career?"
It's not a book for everyone---I'd call it definitely a "chic book". It's about 4 ladies that become BFF's in college. Upon graduation they decide to do a circle journal between them---write in it, mail it to the next girl, she reads what is there, writes what she's been doing, and mails it to the next person, etc. They do this for 30 years until one of them decides to confess the truth---she's been lying in the journal the whole time! Her life is nothing like her journal life and she wants to get the ladies together so she can be honest with them face to face.
You get to know all 4 ladies and some of their joys and heartaches as an invitation to a reunion has them all reflecting on their lives and accompliments and mistakes.
A great story about the power of girlfriends and living true to yourself. A time to reflect about the "face" you put on for others to see and the real you in private. You reflect about your own life and what you say in Christmas letters :) and what kind of a friend you are to others.
MY FAVORITE, BOOK SUMMING UP QUOTE:
"She had lived so long in shame, had been so concerned with the image she projected to these friends. How much love and laughter and friendship and shared pain had she missed, cloistered away in her shell, afraid to admit her failings and reveal herself? How many years of comfort and solace and connection had she denied herself---and denied them, in turn?"
Some of my OTHER FAVORITE lines:
"If memory was carried in blood, Amanda had slit a vein."
"I've become aware that I've somehow lost myself. Not lost the person I was earlier in my life, but rather lost the woman I might have become if I had chosen a diffferent path."
"That's what the counseling process is like. Letting all the dark things out of Pandora's box to get to the hope at the bottom."
"Even extravagant wealth could not shield a soul from anguish."
"She didn't want to come across as a Big Important Person. Her accomplishments, she reasoned, might make them feel worse about their own lives. But the more she though about it, the more convinced she became that withholding the truth had its roots in pride, not humility. It was a flimsy rationalization at best, and the very fact that she had considered it testified to her own unachnowledged arrogance.....Did she really think that she was superior because she had a fulfilling marriage, and amazing daughter, and a successful career?"
April 4, 2009
Four college friends keep a 'friendship journal' over a period of 30 years. Finally getting together in their fifties, each fearing the upcoming "reunion" as each of them has been less than truthful in the journal during the past 30 years.
Shows what "true" friendship can and will endure. This is my first Penelope Stokes novel and I will be reading more of her in the future.
From dust jacket:
"All her adult life, Grace Benedict has been living a lie. Now that deception is about to catch up with her.
Thirty years ago, Grace and her college roommates; Liz, Tess, and Lovey - made a solemn vow: to hold on to their friendship, to support one another, to keep in touch through a circle journal that would make the rounds among them. And they promised always to tell one another the truth.
For three decades that journal has been circulating, carrying stories of Liz's social justice activism in Atlanta and D.C.; of Tess's fulfilling career and perfect home life; of Lovey's dream marriage to a wealthy and powerful former pro football player.
But what is Grace to say? Her friends seem so happy and successful. She can't bear to tell them how her life has spiraled downward since college, and she can't bring herself to be honest about the dismal realities and bitter memories she faces every day.
She never intends to deceive them, not initially anyway. She simply embellishes the truth a little, presents her life as a bit more respectable than it really is. But over the years one exaggeration leads to another, and the fiction grows...
Until she discovers that she's going to die.
Alone and desolate and with little left to lose, Grace determines to take the risk of a lifetime, to reach out to Liz and Tess and Lovey again. And when they reunite, her final battle becomes their struggle as well-a quest for trust, honesty, and enduring emotional connection."
Shows what "true" friendship can and will endure. This is my first Penelope Stokes novel and I will be reading more of her in the future.
From dust jacket:
"All her adult life, Grace Benedict has been living a lie. Now that deception is about to catch up with her.
Thirty years ago, Grace and her college roommates; Liz, Tess, and Lovey - made a solemn vow: to hold on to their friendship, to support one another, to keep in touch through a circle journal that would make the rounds among them. And they promised always to tell one another the truth.
For three decades that journal has been circulating, carrying stories of Liz's social justice activism in Atlanta and D.C.; of Tess's fulfilling career and perfect home life; of Lovey's dream marriage to a wealthy and powerful former pro football player.
But what is Grace to say? Her friends seem so happy and successful. She can't bear to tell them how her life has spiraled downward since college, and she can't bring herself to be honest about the dismal realities and bitter memories she faces every day.
She never intends to deceive them, not initially anyway. She simply embellishes the truth a little, presents her life as a bit more respectable than it really is. But over the years one exaggeration leads to another, and the fiction grows...
Until she discovers that she's going to die.
Alone and desolate and with little left to lose, Grace determines to take the risk of a lifetime, to reach out to Liz and Tess and Lovey again. And when they reunite, her final battle becomes their struggle as well-a quest for trust, honesty, and enduring emotional connection."
November 21, 2014
Great writing but lots of theological holes
I've always liked Ms. Stokes' writing. I read several of her books a few years ago and searched her out recently to see if she had written anything new. I came across this book and was excited to see that much of it was set in an area near and dear to my heart, Asheville. I love when a book is descriptive about an area I know well and this book did not disappoint in that regard. The writing was exemplary and the book kept my interest from beginning to end. Unfortunately, I was disappointed by the theological missteps that were clearly purposeful. The idea that all the characters would eventually meet again, that there isn't just one path to eternity, that in spite of their agnosticism, atheism and neutral, lukewarm faith they would all be granted an eternity together is flawed and misleading. I appreciated her explanation that faith isn't wrapped up in the liturgy and rules of the institution called church, but she swayed too far off the path by saying that there were multiple ways to meet the Creator. Accepting, believing and confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord is the only way to spend eternity in Heaven with Him. To say anything less is dangerous and downright harmful to readers. I hope that Ms. Stokes comes to a better understanding of God's purpose in her life before it is too late.
I've always liked Ms. Stokes' writing. I read several of her books a few years ago and searched her out recently to see if she had written anything new. I came across this book and was excited to see that much of it was set in an area near and dear to my heart, Asheville. I love when a book is descriptive about an area I know well and this book did not disappoint in that regard. The writing was exemplary and the book kept my interest from beginning to end. Unfortunately, I was disappointed by the theological missteps that were clearly purposeful. The idea that all the characters would eventually meet again, that there isn't just one path to eternity, that in spite of their agnosticism, atheism and neutral, lukewarm faith they would all be granted an eternity together is flawed and misleading. I appreciated her explanation that faith isn't wrapped up in the liturgy and rules of the institution called church, but she swayed too far off the path by saying that there were multiple ways to meet the Creator. Accepting, believing and confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord is the only way to spend eternity in Heaven with Him. To say anything less is dangerous and downright harmful to readers. I hope that Ms. Stokes comes to a better understanding of God's purpose in her life before it is too late.
February 6, 2010
The writing in this book is really "just ok", to be quite honest. The characters are often 2 dimensional, predictable, and stale. Yet, at the end it starts touching on some really deep, spiritual stuff, universal truths and whatnot. That made sticking this book out a good choice.
THIS made me mad - and the fact that she never ONCE outright said the lesbians were a couple, and never had them do any more than hold hands once....
From Lovey's journal - "Sometimes I hate what this world has done to the word LOVE. You can love chocolate or pantyhose or somebody's shoes or a new hair color, but if you apply it to a person of the same sex who isn't kin to you, people look at you funny like you're queer or something. I guess I should say GAY, that's what they prefer to be called."
Seriously? This book was published in 2004, and this journaling was supposed to have happened in 2003. REALLY???
Forgiven (grudgingly) due to the amazing imagery of Asheville and even the mention of the Oakley branch of the Buncombe County lib. (Hi ladies! This one's' not overdue..)
THIS made me mad - and the fact that she never ONCE outright said the lesbians were a couple, and never had them do any more than hold hands once....
From Lovey's journal - "Sometimes I hate what this world has done to the word LOVE. You can love chocolate or pantyhose or somebody's shoes or a new hair color, but if you apply it to a person of the same sex who isn't kin to you, people look at you funny like you're queer or something. I guess I should say GAY, that's what they prefer to be called."
Seriously? This book was published in 2004, and this journaling was supposed to have happened in 2003. REALLY???
Forgiven (grudgingly) due to the amazing imagery of Asheville and even the mention of the Oakley branch of the Buncombe County lib. (Hi ladies! This one's' not overdue..)
August 20, 2013
Four college room-mates with divergent backgrounds support each other as the wend their way through college and expectations of the 1960's.
Tess, the writer in the group, offers the idea of a Circle Journal as a way to keep them connected after graduation. Over 30 years the journal gets updated with the details of their lives, and mailed around the world.
Grace, whose moral principles are the source of strength and conflict in the early years of their friendship, comes to face life's greatest challenge.
When she calls on her friends from the past, it turns out that many secrets and regrets have been kept from the journal and each other.
In most respects the author did a great job in detailing each woman's life and challenges. It would have been a more appealing book if there had been a more realistic character in the group. All go on to extraordinary things, and life just isn't like that.
A good read none the less.
Tess, the writer in the group, offers the idea of a Circle Journal as a way to keep them connected after graduation. Over 30 years the journal gets updated with the details of their lives, and mailed around the world.
Grace, whose moral principles are the source of strength and conflict in the early years of their friendship, comes to face life's greatest challenge.
When she calls on her friends from the past, it turns out that many secrets and regrets have been kept from the journal and each other.
In most respects the author did a great job in detailing each woman's life and challenges. It would have been a more appealing book if there had been a more realistic character in the group. All go on to extraordinary things, and life just isn't like that.
A good read none the less.
July 28, 2016
What is truth? When their psychology professor posed this question to the class as a group assignment, then appointed the students to specific groups to work out the answer, she created unexpected friendships for Grace, Tess, Lovey, and Liz. Though very different women they moved into a house together off-campus of UNCA by their second semester and at graduation vowed to stay in touch through a circle journal and to always tell each other the truth. 30 years later they realize they have been less than truthful with each other, but mostly to themselves. They reunite as Grace faces a cancer diagnosis and their lives are changed by the weekend gathering.
I thought Stokes should have ended the novel with Grace's last will and testament and letter to her friends, but the remainder of the novel might be preferred by others as a more complete ending.
A nice book about women's friendships.
I thought Stokes should have ended the novel with Grace's last will and testament and letter to her friends, but the remainder of the novel might be preferred by others as a more complete ending.
A nice book about women's friendships.
September 2, 2008
A group of unlikely college roommates vows at graduation to keep in touch via a circle journal. While they keep their commitment, they each unbeknowst to the others omit certin unflattering deatils about their lives. Fast forward 30 years where some life events convince one of the ladies that it's time to get real. She schedules a weekend retreat for them and what happens is life altering. They come to realize that by not being honest with one another, they robbed themsleves of the support the friends could have offered. I won't give anything else away.
I loved this book. The picture of friendship that is formed so quickly and so strongly in college reminded me of how I came to be friends with Mary Anne and Lynn. Also it renewed my belief in how important friends are. True support and love can carry you through anything. Did I mention I loved this book?
I loved this book. The picture of friendship that is formed so quickly and so strongly in college reminded me of how I came to be friends with Mary Anne and Lynn. Also it renewed my belief in how important friends are. True support and love can carry you through anything. Did I mention I loved this book?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 117 reviews