The Saving Graces. [Paperback]

Patricia Gaffney (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 394 pages
• Publisher: Pocket (2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743477928
• ISBN-13: 978-0743477925
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (246 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,799,359 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Patricia Gaffney began her writing career with the publication of Sweet Treason, a historical romance set in revolutionary Scotland. Eleven romance novels later, she tried something different--The Saving Graces, a story of women's friendships, that ended up spending 17 weeks on the New York Times Bestsellers List.

Circle of Three, Flight Lessons, and The Goodbye Summer followed, all bestsellers that established Gaffney as a premier mainstream fiction writer.

Her new book is Mad Dash, the story of a happy marriage in trouble. It's due out in Spring 2008.

Gaffney, who lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, is currently at work on a novel about a man who changes his life when he finds out he's dying--then finds out he isn't. Working title: On Second Thought.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you read one book this year, make it this one., June 8, 1999

By 

Elaine Fox ([e-mail]) (Fredericksburg, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Saving Graces: A Novel (Hardcover)

If you're looking for a book that's powerful and funny, real and yet joyful, with characters you'll think about long after you've finished it, THIS is the one to buy. Trust me. I'm a picky reader and I loved this story from beginning to end. In fact, I want to buy copies for all my friends, because every woman I know will relate to the characters and situations in this book.

It's the kind of read you don't want to put down and you look forward to getting back to. A sophisticated, honest book that shows friendship in all its nurturing and flawed glory. The main characters love, help and understand each other; but they've also got secrets, private irritations and intricate conflicts. There's not a cliché among them. Just four complex, funny women who stick together and help one another make the most of their lives.

I honestly hated to finish this book and when I did I felt for days as if I'd lost my best friends. But that's okay because this one's a keeper. I'll just read it again.

62 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a book made for summer, June 19, 2000

By 

Maria from London (London UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Saving Graces: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

Okay, "the saving graces" certainly doesn't qualify as outstanding literature. And yes, the story of 4 friends & each one's joys & sorrows is not the most original concept in the world: But the strength of this particular novel is that it's extremely well written & so much fun: it's a story that could really be about any of us, the themes are so familiar. "The saving graces" underline what most of us already know, that friends are the relatives we chose, the family we form for ourselves, whereas when it comes to our actual families, we don't have a choice.

Patricia Gaffney, from what I've heard (because this is the first book of hers that I've read) usually writes different kind of novels, historical romances etc. But I don't know why- she seems to be a natural in telling a contemporary, real, easy-to-read story.

This book is about the friendship of 4 women, around 40 years old: Rudy, Isabel, Emma & Lee. They meet twice a month for dinner & share secrets, talk about their lives, laugh a lot and sometimes cry. What women-friends do in real life, actually: and this is this novel's strength: although it's not the most substantial or inspired book in the world, it's one of the best books in the "light reading" category, since it's as if the story is taken out of real life. It's one of those novels that the reader gets totally engrossed in, so it's a very good selection for a weekend away or for a long airplane ride. You'll have a great time reading it...

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A favorite for 1999!, January 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Saving Graces: A Novel (Hardcover)

After reading almost all of Patricia Gaffney's books, I have to say, her first contemporary is truly a work of art.

The Saving Graces is a novel of friendship. Calling themselves the Saving Graces, Emma, Rudy, Lee and Isabel meet twice a month for dinner to talk about life, love, marriage, careers, achievements and disappointments.

Emma, wanting to publish her first book and in love with a married man. Beautiful Rudy, unsure of herself and afraid to upset her manipulative husband. Lee, the "normal" one who is desperatly trying to have a baby. And Isabel, divorced and battling the battle of her life. Cancer.

This story pulled me in from the beginning and made me wish I were part of The Saving Graces. I laughed, I cried (hid from my husband because I didn't want him to see me!) and most of all I fell in love with the four of them. I truly didn't want the story to end. Don't wait for the paperback. This book is one that you will truly enjoy and read over and over again. Loan it to your best friend. Maybe you'll start up a "Saving Graces" of your own.