Customer Reviews

Circle of Grace: A Novel (Stokes, Penelope J.)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

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

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.

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.

This is a beautiful story about love and faith and, yes, grace. It may not be what readers of Christian fiction expect, but it exemplifies how most Christians I know and respect in the real world strive to be. When most Christian novels are more about political agendas than God, and most mainstream novels have no interest in faith at all, this book is a wonderful gift.

I have enjoyed many of Penelope Stokes' books until I read "Circle of Grace". I often recommend books to my avid reading friends but this book will not be one of them. Although it is classified as Christian fiction, some of the content clearly was not. I was disappointed to find offensive language, subtle references to a lesbian relationship, and references to a distant deity with no clear message of a personal relationship to Him. This is improper for Christian Fiction and would be better classified as regular Fiction. The plot would have been just as good, if not better, without these things. Christian fiction needs to be honoring to Christ in content. I hope that this will not become the pattern for Penelope's future writings or I will no longer be able to recommend her.

I love reading christian fiction because it is safe for my mind. I was very dissapointed that this book was even listed under christian fiction. But, I also blame myself for not reading some of these reviews. I think the world would view this as a very non-threating, feel good, semi spiritual book. I am not even sure how this book would lead a non-believer to the truth. It is a book that leads you to believe the way is NOT narrow, it's as wide open as you want. If you read christian fiction to protect your mind from cursing (Jesus' name in vain), or other sexual preferences other than the way God intended it, this book is not for you. True friendship is centered on the one that created it. And grace is given freely when one sees the need for it.

This novel is not published by a Christian publisher, yet it is one of the best I've read for seeing a realistic process of spiritual transformation occurring in several individuals over thirty years. It does not give quick pat solutions or answers for the women's struggles in life, which is refreshing. Rather, without specifically mentioning God, it demonstrates God's mercy in guiding their focus away from all that does not ultimately satisfy, and in providing hope and comfort via this circle of friends. It also shows God's prevailing love for each of his beloved children, regardless of their interest in Him, or their choices in life. I sometimes became frustrated trying to keep track of the characters' backgrounds and current lives, and a little impatient to understand the point of the story. But what kept me reading was that each woman's faith, or lack of, fit naturally into the friends' discussions from time to time, without cliches, and without the reader being banged over the head with doctrine. It was interesting how each character was developed so that the reader could understand how she arrived at her particular philosophy. By the end of the book, there had been successful changes in some, and the potential for better, stronger lives for the others. Each evening of reading promised me a warm connection with people I got to know, new insights, and deeper love for the One who so kindly touches our lives.

I bought this book totally unaware this author was known for her Christian based novels. I thought the book was very good and think those who reviewed the book based on the number of curse words it contained was very unfair to the author's writing and story telling abilitites.

A big disappointment if you are looking for a writer whose heart in in the same vein as her other books. The circle of grace she speaks of is not the grace of the Lord but rather the grace of friendship. Ms. Stokes strays from the beliefs of the Bible and embraces a new religion-one of tolerance of sin, one of everyone goes to Heaven or whatever it is you want to call the place in the hereafter. There is not one character who knew the Lord and could redeem this tale. Her characters, though brilliantly developed, are the blind leading the blind into a pit.

Reader beware!

I feel that I have to confess for allowing such garbage into my mind. I pray that Ms. Stokes was merely writing fiction and that this is not representive of the condition of her soul. If so, she needs our prayers! And so do the many others who will pick up Circle of Grace and think that it will be a safe book for keeping our minds on the truth and being faithful to the Word of God as her other books were. It's sad that one of the last times a character(Bo)spoke of our Lord and saviour Jesus was as a curse word!

I've read most of Penelope Stokes' fictional works and have enjoyed them for their entertainment value and underlying lessons of faith; however, Circle of Grace was a politically correct message supporting the world's belief that a person has the ability to create his/her own heaven (on earth) and his/her own god. The few curse words sprinkled within Circle of Grace did not bother me as they were in line with the characters' makeup. However, the continual references to various "higher powers" and the underlying message of the lack of true "Hope" was very disturbing. What a disappontment to see Ms. Stokes' work has strayed far from a Christian worldview.