The Mystery of Grace

The Mystery of Grace is a beautifully written and thought-provoking novel about loss, love, redemption and the power of the human spirit. Charles de Lint blends contemporary fantasy and magical realism to create a story that is both familiar and otherworldly.

The novel follows Grace, a hot-rod mechanic who dies unexpectedly and returns to the world of the living as a ghost. She falls in love with John, an artist who is haunted by the death of his younger brother. Together, Grace and John must learn to let go of their attachments and find peace. The characters are complex and well-developed, and their journey is both heartbreaking and hopeful.

[Disclaimer: I am not very good at writing reviews so I asked Bard, the Google AI, for help]

A fine, if bittersweet, book. What happens when you are dead? Nobody knows. In 'The Mystery of Grace', Charles de Lint writes a book of hope. Religion is apart from it - the book neither affirms nor denies any belief, but does posit something beyond death. All choose to believe in the possibility of this on their own; but the book assumes the possibility, and takes it from there.

Grace is a young hispanic woman who, tragically, is shot and dies. She wakes in the same place, but the only people she sees are others who have died in the vicinity. They all inhabit the area, but know not why. An endless existence with the other dead, all of whom sense that their life is less than life, and wonder if this can be what was really intended. Grace show more brings something to these people, and helps them find the answer they are looking for. The book makes no grand pronouncements about what comes after - indeed, it denies all knowledge, even through the last page. But it is a book of hope, and a book that warms the heart.

I thought some parts of the plot were not especially relevant and so perhaps it meandered a bit. Those parts did add variety to the story and had value that way, but the lack of directness detracts from the story. There are two important story lines, both of which must be resolved. One of them is doomed to end sadly, but he finds a way to resolve it as best it can be resolved, which isn't so sad after all. And the other is a major point of tension towards which the story directs itself, but it takes its own sweet time getting there. Still, I was never bored; and was very glad to have read it.

Another superb story by Charles de Lint. show less

That summary has some beautiful writing itself, as there are major things that happen at the start of the book that are delicately phrased there. I am grateful that the summary tread so lightly, as the book completely surprised me with where it went and what happened from there.

There is a love story, but the book isn't a romance by any means. The true focus is on the mystery around Grace: what happened to her and her neighbors, why, and how to resolve it--if it can or should be resolved. If you have read any of de Lint's work before, you know he's a master at setting mood. The setting here may be the dusty desert southwest, but it has the full creepy vibe of his fog-filled Newford. Much of the tension is from the setting, because the show more book itself isn't action packed. Not many big things happen. Even so, I was completely engrossed by the book. The ending may have been a bit low key, but it still worked. There's also a horrible twist near the end that made me yelp out loud and then gnaw my lip in worry.

The Mystery of Grace is indeed mysterious, and beautiful, and frightening. I'm keeping this one on my shelf. show less

Three and a half stars, rounding up.

Very nicely woven book. I always love de Lint's use of language and description, but he keeps his focus on the plot and character relationship here more than getting lost in the setting. The characters, Grace and John, became very real, and the side characters interesting. One of the most fascinating things about the book was that the setting for the afterlife became more real than the "real world" at times. I enjoyed the process of Grace gradually caring more and more about how this afterlife came to be and solving the mystery behind it. There's flashes of humor, lightning a potentially somber mood, and I appreciate the inclusion of a lot of diversity in characters--at times it can be hard to find show more fantasy that isn't about blond, blue-eyed women.

If I have any complaint, it's that the emphasis on hot-rods and surfer music became very repetitive, and I felt like the adjectives didn't change much. Gradually we did learn more about Grace and John, but for a man who consulted experts on both hot-rods and surfer music, I didn't believe where the love was coming from.

Having a police officer become involved in the last section was a jarring note in the story.

Aside from that, the story was unique, the relationships nicely and interestingly developed, both in the real world and the afterlife. Interesting musing on meaning and existence. show less

Charles de Lint is my favorite author. Period. So I grabbed this without even looking at the bookflap and just plunged in. Do yourself a favor and do the same thing. Without knowing anything about the book, the prologue is one of the best hooks I've read in a long time. But you can't know anything about the story beforehand. But, man, what a hook!

One of the things I love about de Lint is how his characters always have faith in something bigger than themselves, but that faith doesn't necessarily take the form of organized religion. He incorporates the best elements from many different religions and mythologies to build a story that most people can relate to. This book has a great love story, but the point is really to explore faith, show more grace, and having the courage to let go.

The biggest thing that I love about de Lint is his characters. Within a few pages, his characters feel like old friends. Grace is no exception. Tough, tattoo-covered, hot-rod building Grace is easy to pigeonhole. But there are many surprising sides to her personality, and she quickly became a character I won't forget. But what makes his characters stand out to me are the way they interact with each other and the world. They usually have some of their own serious issues, but they also generally seem to believe that, while they might not be able to single-handedly change the world, they can change their parts of it. They live to try to ease the way for others they encounter. They understand that life is hard enough without people beating each other down. We should build each other up. De Lint got all of that into this book too.

Most of my favorite books by this author are set in the fictional city of Newford, with some recurring characters throughout. I was initially a little disappointed that this wasn't a Newford book, and that I wouldn't get to check in on Jilly and Geordie and friends, but I quickly got over that. This still wasn't my very favorite book of his, but this was definitely one of my favorites.

In all honestly, the story was probably 4 stars. But the ideas behind the book are 5 stars. I love this guy, I loved this book, and I can't recommend either highly enough. show less

This was an impulse buy which I read most of in one sitting and then didn't come back to for two weeks (because I was packing and moving, not because I didn't want to). My impression of it may have suffered because of that, but I don't think so. I loved the setting here (American Southwest, with a lot of the mysticism, mythology, and culture arising from the book's Hispanic characters), and the premise had promise (the main character finds herself dead and trapped in a strange afterlife which she is sure isn't quite right), but the whole book just read flat. The pacing seemed off (even before my putting it down for a long time), I never quite warmed fully to Grace (though, intellectually, I like her), and even though I think I see what show more de Lint was going for, I was left with a decided "And? So?" feeling in the end. show less

Charles de Lint is a masterful writer. This time he has moved away from his familiar Canadian/North American setting. Set in a small town in the South of the USA this is a world of the desert; hot rods; rockabilly and bruja. Grace is grieving for her abuelo - the only one of her family who had time for her. Loss does strange things and leads her to a place she shouldn't be.

What else to say. This is a book about love and friendship; about faith and belief; about the ability to go on after the world falls apart around you. Fascinating; thought provoking and highly recommended.