21 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Absorbing Story for Readers of Faith Fiction, June 27, 2004
This review is from: Circle of Grace: A Novel (Stokes, Penelope J.) (Hardcover)
After penning nine novels, Penelope Stokes knows how to craft an interesting story, and she raises the bar a bit higher for herself in CIRCLE OF GRACE.
Four mismatched college classmates craft an unlikely alliance in this tale, then drift apart over the next few decades, connected only by their "circle journal," passed around by mail for each woman to update the others on how her life unfolds. However, most of the women can't resist embellishing their accomplishments, hiding important life events, or brushing aside their failures, so the entries in the circle journal are mostly a charade.
Grace Benedict (whose name has several interesting connotations) had thought of the foursome as "the Four Corners" or "the Compass Points" in college because of their diversity of perspectives when challenged in a philosophy course to answer the question, "What is truth?" The heart of Stokes's novel lies in the answer to this question.
Liz Chandler, a dyed-in-the-wool atheist who, as a student, believed love was overrated, goes on to find true love with a surprising person --- but she isn't sure she is ready to be honest with her old friends about her new life. Amanda, or "Lovey," is the vacuous, agnostic blonde Southern cheerleader whose dream marriage to football player Bo Tennyson has slipped away over the years into an expensive, polished façade. But can she confront Bo with the truth about their relationship? Tess Riley, the daughter of an Episcopal bishop, has become a successful writer with two Newbery Medals and three Horn Book Awards. But she keeps the truth about her identity a secret.
And Grace, the moral compass and "truth teller" of the foursome, believed in college that "the truth will set you free...truth enables us to become the people we were created to be." But thirty years later, Grace is perhaps the worst at coming clean, spinning a fantasy life in the circle journal for her friends that bear no relationship to reality. Grace has been burned in the "truth telling" department before. Her parents' marriage had a dark side that she discovered after her father's death. It was then that truth ceased to be an abstract concept for Grace. As Stokes beautifully writes, truth then "had a color, a taste, a smell. A dark red hellish light, a bitter burn like acid on her tongue, a scent of smoke and ash and the rotting remains of half-cremated dreams." Her mother tells her, "We always think we want the truth, Grace. But the truth isn't always pleasant or noble, and it's certainly not painless."
Now, diagnosed with a terminal illness and long past believing her college credo that "the truth will set you free," Grace must decide if she will finish life the same way she has lived it, or be willing to be painfully honest with her friends about her own deceptions and her need for a relationship.
Readers who dislike their authors deviating from what they have come to expect will enjoy CIRCLE OF GRACE, which echoes THE BLUE BOTTLE CLUB in its object motif and follows some familiar Stokes formulas. In this sense, CIRCLE OF GRACE is like settling in for a conversation with an old friend. However, more conservative Stokes fans will discover that the author has taken some risks in this novel: allowing her characters to use some profanity, and letting one of the friends "come out of the closet." What is most unmistakable about this novel is how Stokes's writing, always proficient, sparkles in places, and she proves she knows how to turn some lovely phrases ("Liz's questions, along with so many of her own, hung out there like loose threads on a badly-woven sweater. Pull one, and everything might unravel.").
This novel, with its lovely writing and themes of truth, loss, friendship and redemption, will provide an absorbing story for readers of faith fiction.
--- Reviewed by Cindy Crosby
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12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A really good book, December 3, 2004
This review is from: Circle of Grace: A Novel (Stokes, Penelope J.) (Hardcover)
I thought this was a very good book and was disappointed in some of the reviews. I wonder if they failed to see the spiritual aspect of the book. Did they not read the part where Grace was in Church when they were receiving communion and Grace, who had not believed for so long, thought,"We are the bread, gathered and sifted together. We are the wine,pressed and mingled and distilled. Henri Nouwen, a Christian writer stated that we are the bread, broken and given to others, through Christ.
There was a lesbian couple and I wondered if perhaps the negative reviewers would have had Tess stay with a cheating, lying man instead.
I have given the book to two friends to read, both of whom enjoyed it as I did.
I will continue to read Ms. Stokes books and recommend them to others.
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27 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointment, October 13, 2004
This review is from: Circle of Grace: A Novel (Stokes, Penelope J.) (Hardcover)
I practically ran to the bookstore when I realized that Circle of Grace had been published already, and I'd missed it. I choked a little on the price, but I was so excited. I've read every other fictional book written by Stokes and re-read them too. I recommend them frequently, and they are rarely all on my book shelf at the same time. I recommend her because unlike quite a few Christian authors, she actually has writing talent. So much gets published in the Christian literature realm because of its message rather than its quality. And I enjoy authors who not only proclaim the awesome message of salvation in their books but also do it with beautifully crafted words and stories. I enjoyed this in Stokes' other novels.
I feel a little betrayed by this novel, by Stokes herself. At first I was startled by the rough language used intermitenly throughout the book. But I've been in writing classes, I understand the need to "be true" to the character. It didn't bother me any less--these books are a sanctuary to me from the rest of the harsh world--but at least I could understand. But as I progressed through the book and realized that not only was she using harsh language but also including a subtle lesbian love affair, I was shocked. To top it all off, she never states anything firmly. The story tells of love and compassion, forgiveness and grace, but it fails to mention the Author of all of those. It says that Jesus never answered the question "What is truth?" when Pilate asked Him. But the truth is that Jesus had already answered that question early. He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." In her beautiful way of writing, Stokes merely disguises the well-known lie that all ways lead to heaven. That all roads lead to the gate. That all truth is truth. It's an illogical statement and one that I did not expect to come from her novels.
I too will never again buy one of her books unread or recommend her as an author--only certain books of hers. I've already returned the book to the Christian bookstore where I bought it and warned them of the content. When they realized what it contained, they decided to remove it from their shelves.
I'm very sorry to see a favorite author falter in this way, and I feel betrayed by the fact that she never gave any hint that the change was coming--not on her website, not in the fly leaf cover summary, not in any reviews.
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