A Christmas Grace [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

Anne Perry (Author), Anne Dover (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2009

In the sixth of Anne Perry's Christmas novellas, a community learns to come to terms with a terrible event from its past. Emily Radley's Christmas plans are shattered when she learns that her aunt, Susannah, is dying. Although estranged from her, Emily decides that she must journey to Susannah's home in West Ireland to assist her in her final days. When she reaches Connemara, it is evident that Susannah has more on her mind than her health. There is a strange sense of disquiet in the village which is only amplified when Daniel, the lone survivor of a ship wrecked in a violent storm, seeks refuge in Susannah's house. Determined to understand why the village is so unwelcoming to its new arrival, Emily discovers strange parallels with the unsolved death of another young man, Connor, many years before. Susannah urges Emily to investigate further. And as she does, Emily learns that some people will do anything to keep their secrets safe.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bestseller Perry's sixth Christmas novel (after 2007's A Christmas Beginning), one of the stronger entries in the series, explores further mysteries of the soul. A few weeks before Christmas, 1895, Emily Radley, the sister of Charlotte Pitt (last seen with husband, Thomas Pitt, in Buckingham Palace Gardens), answers a summons from Father Tyndale, spiritual leader of a small Western Ireland community. The Catholic priest is concerned about Emily's dying aunt, Susannah Ross, who's been estranged from her family since marrying outside their Protestant faith. Once in Ireland, Emily finds her aunt's entire village in the grip of fear, haunted by a secret. A shipwreck during a ferocious storm, the rescue of a young man from the sea's clutches and another young man's mysterious murder complicate Emily's mission. Perry effortlessly evokes the region's insularity and isolation while imbuing religious themes into a whodunit without being preachy. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

A Christmas Beginning

“Intriguing . . . Perry’s use of period detail is, as always, strong and evocative.”
–The Seattle Times

A Christmas Secret

“A delightful little book . . . Perry’s gift is that she can evoke a sense of place and time while still producing the thrills and chills expected of a modern-day mystery writer.”

–The Orlando Sentinel

A Christmas Guest

“[A] satisfying tale.”
–The Wall Street Journal


From the Hardcover edition. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Soundings Audio Books (May 1, 2009)
• ISBN-10: 1407907255
• ISBN-13: 978-1407907253
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Anne Perry is the bestselling author of two acclaimed series set in Victorian England: the William Monk novels, including Dark Assassin and The Shifting Tide, and the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels, including The Cater Street Hangman, Calandar Square, Buckingham Palace Gardens and Long Spoon Lane. She is also the author of the World War I novels No Graves As Yet, Shoulder the Sky, Angels in the Gloom, At Some Disputed Barricade, and We Shall Not Sleep, as well as six holiday novels, most recently A Christmas Grace. Anne Perry lives in Scotland.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Christmas offering from Anne Perry, November 2, 2008

By 

ellen "ellen in atlanta" (Atlanta, Georgia USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: A Christmas Grace: A Novel (Hardcover)

For a few years now, Anne Perry has been writing small books featuring the beloved characters from her Victorian series in a poignant adventure around the Christmas Season.
When I first saw the title A Christmas Grace, I thought initially the story may feature little Grace, the maid and friend of Thomas and Charlotte Pitt, but this offering features Charlotte's sister Emily Radley.
Perry always shows us the customs of the time, where who you married, knew, or was family too was the defining point of your life. Charlotte married Thomas Pitt, a policeman, for love. Emily married a man in the gentry, above her social rank. The two women's lives were drastically different and Emily knew that Charlotte's life, though hard, was the happier, as she loved Thomas more than anything. When Emily's husband dies, she eventually remarries a man who becomes a member of Parliament, and they are still well off.
A letter comes to the Radley home a few days before Christmas from Thomas Pitt. He explains Charlotte's and Emily's aunt in Ireland is dying, and she asks initially for Charlotte to come to her, but Charlotte is ill and cannot make the arduous journey. Thomas asks Emily to go instead.
The girls have not seen their aunt Susannah since they were young. Susannah married an outsider, and a Catholic to boot, and her family, Emily and Charlotte's parents and grandparents practically disowned her.
Imagine a time when society dictated everything, manners, conduct, love, politics, etc.
Emily's husband talks her into making the great journey to the west coast of Ireland. She meets her Aunt Susannah as an adult and sees she at the age of 50 is indeed dying. Emily starts making friends with her aunt, and the village priest and villagers.
One night there is a horrific storm, and a there is a shipwreck. A lone survivor is rescued, and the whole town seems to react strangely. There was a similar situation years ago, and the survivor died mysteriously. Susannah, hearing of Charlotte helping Thomas Pitt from time to time, wants to unburden the mystery of the village before she dies and meets her husband on the Other Side.
Emily steps up to the plate and shows she is not the more shallow of the sisters. She does chores - well, she has to be shown how - but she works to help her aunt physically and help her spiritually.
It is a second chance for a village of people, and a peace for a lady who lost so much by marrying for love and having to leave her family and making her husband's village her family.
Learning about the Victorian culture has always been Perry's forte, and these small Christmas books zero in on a character and we see with clearer eyes a time of not so distant history.
Perry is an amazing writer with excellent series, and her latest Christmas offering to her readers is a grace.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars strong entry in a charming holiday series, November 4, 2008

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Christmas Grace: A Novel (Hardcover)

As 1895 is winding down, Emily Radley, sister-in-law of Scotland Yard's Superintendent Thomas Pitt (star of Anne Perry's late Victorian police procedural series), hopes next year will be better. She remains in London for the Christmas season with her husband and two children so she will be expected to attend parties although she is not in the spirit of the season even as she tries to hide her negativism from her family.

On the western coast of Ireland in Connemara, Father Tyndale sends a message to Emily informing her that her Aunt Susannah Ross is dying. Although Susannah was ostracized by the family for marrying outside their religion, Emily feels it is important to visit her relative to provide some comfort for both of them and besides escape the joy of Christmas; she leaves her family in London so they can enjoy the city. In Connemara, Emily is stunned to see the abject fear on every villager's face. She wonders why but no one will reveal the secret that haunts everyone, but vows to find out. Meanwhile a nasty storm causes a shipwreck leading to a daring rescue followed by an enigmatic murder that makes the outsider's amateur sleuthing so much more complicated.

The latest Christmas mystery (see A CHRISTMAS SECRET and A CHRISTMAS BEGINNING) is a terrific tale that merges a strong investigation with a sense of time and place while also containing religious elements that enhance the excellent story line. Emily is at her best feeling a bit depressed as the holidays arrive, but being a good mom and wife tries to hide her melancholy from her loved ones. Ireland enables her to do so and get involved in the mystery of a town haunted by something as it is on everyone's visage. A CHRISTMAS GRACE is a strong entry in a charming holiday series.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars --------Good, but could have been a lot better-------, October 30, 2009

By 

Judith Miller (Bluemont, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Christmas Grace: A Novel (Hardcover)

I've really enjoy the Charoltte and Thomas Pitt mystery series by Anne Perry. I was delighted to find that the author had written some Christmas stories that involve some of the main characters in the Pitt series.

A CHRISTMAS GRACE begins with Thomas Pitt calling his sister-in-law, Emily Radley. He tells her that a priest has written from Ireland saying that her Aunt Susannah is very ill and needs a relative to come and take care of her. Emily, with encouragement from her husband, agrees to go. She begrudges the endeavor because she had just been planning her Christmas at home and had no desire to spent it away from her children with Aunt Susannah who she barely even knew.

Aunt Susannah, has been out of touch with her family for many years. She was brought up in a fairly well to do family in England. However, she fell in love with an Irishman, married outside her social status and converted to the Roman Catholic religion. Her brother, who was Emily's father never forgave her or saw her again. Susannah is delighted to have Emily with her and appreciates the kind gesture.

Emily begins her stay, on the western coast of Ireland, with a rather haughty and superior attitude toward the Irish people and land. As she becomes more involved with the local people, she's ashamed of her initial attitude and for the first time realizes that the Irish have not been treated very well by the English. She becomes involved with the villagers and grows to love her Aunt Susannah.

While Emily is caring for her aunt, a violent storm ravages the area and a man is washed up from the sea, apparently from a ship wreck, and brought to shore. The villagers react in a strange way and Emily learns that the same thing happened before to another sailor. People don't seem to want to discuss the happenings and she finds herself involved in a mystery.

The overall story was good. The characters were interesting and the descriptive passages about Ireland, picturesque. I felt that the mystery part was very thin and that it took away the focus which should have been on Aunt Susannah and the Christmas season. Frankly, I wanted to hear how an Irish Christmas would have been celebrated in the late 1800's.

While I mostly enjoyed the story, I came away a little dissatisfied.