Review: Filled with Insights
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 5, 2013
FINDING GRACE, a Transformational Journey begins the novel with Grace Martin sitting in a courtroom trial. At stake is sixty million dollars she inherited from a woman not her relative.  Ron and Angela Pettermint, the son and daughter of the dead woman, are contesting the will. This excellent beginning quickly establishes the novel's high stakes and begs the question of why a woman would leave sixty million dollars to a stranger.When the narrative flashes back to when Grace Martin was eight years old, it gets even better.  We see a fatherless girl being raised by a jaded atheist mother and a fire and brimstone grandmother, the opposing views confusing her on the concept of God and more importantly, what is good and evil.  When she meets kind Mrs. Pettermint, the woman steers her in a progressive direction and sets her on a course to a more open and new age interpretation of religion.  Though rich in insights, the narrative bogs down a bit in the middle of the book from an extensive dialogue about the concept of God and religion.  Fortunately, these lengthy discussions are interrupted now and then by Grace's conflicted family life and her heated relationship with her sister, Maggie with whom she eventually becomes estranged.  It is during these absorbing family scenes that the novel shines. When Mrs. Pettermint introduces Grace to Sunny, the voluptuous female pastor of  the Ontario Center for Positive Thinking, it sets Grace on a course toward  being a minister of a new age and unorthodox church.The writing is excellent in this book, the prose flowing smoothly without a single bump or hitch.  In portions, when the story flashes back to young Grace, the prose becomes evocative and touching.  The book is loaded with insights and epiphanies. I just wished the exchanges delivering them have been pruned so as not to be repetitive. We get it. Don't hit us over the head with it.  Semblance of the Prodigal Son theme can be seen in Grace and Maggie's relationship. The courtroom drama in the end is good and delivers a gift-wrapped feel-good ending.This book is for those who enjoy stories of enlightenment and redemption and could have easily crossed over to literary fiction. I would have given Saving Grace five stars if it had the benefit of proper pruning to maintain the balance between mainstream fiction and new age teachings. I highly recommend this book.