Circle of Grace Book

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.

Publishers Weekly

In the same vein as her novel The Blue Bottle Club, Stokes again presents a story of four women friends and the twists and turns their lives take. The women-Amanda "Lovey" Love, Grace Benedict, Liz Chandler and Tess Riley-are thrown together in a college philosophy course, charged with answering the question, "What is truth?" In their diversity (the moralist, the activist, the cheerleader, the aspiring author) they forge a close friendship. Stokes's books usually have a concrete motif of sorts (The Amber Photograph; The Treasure Box; The Wishing Jar; The Memory Book), and in this novel the object is a "circle journal" that the women pass around and contribute to for 30 years. However, each woman fails to tell the complete truth about her life in the journal, especially when she encounters failure or disappointment. When desperate circumstances cause Grace to bring the quartet back together again, telling the truth is in order, but they find that risking truth with one another is a daunting proposition. Stokes is a competent writer who knows how to craft a well-paced story. Although this book is more adventurous than her earlier fiction-CBA fans will be surprised to discover profanity and a lesbian character-Stokes's fans will find the same type of plot, faith themes and characters that they've enjoyed in her previous novels. Agent, Claudia Cross. (June 15) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.