Tender Grace

This book is about Audrey who in the 15 months after her husband's death has been stagnant, retreating into TV and being numb to the world around her. She decides that she will take a driving trip to the West Coast and see things that they had always intended to as a couple.

While traveling her eyes are opened to the tender graces in her life and the world around her and using her love of God she is able to grow and understand how much meaning is around her every day. She rediscovers herself, her family and friends.

While I liked the story and am a christian and believe in God, I'm not a christian fiction reader. I liked the progression of the story and could see the steps that Audrey made getting over her grief. It is interesting but my show more mother's journey through grief after my dad died mirrored this story a lot.

I would recommend this story to certain people but I think some people would be turned off at the amount of scripture and religious leanings in this book. show less

This work of religious (inspirational?) fiction is about more than the main character’s evolving relationship with God. Audrey, a widow for well over a year, has been just getting by as she struggles to get through each day—“death in life,” she calls it. Her story, told through journal entries, takes the reader on her journey of faith, confidence, and six weeks of solo travel in the western U.S. This story was very readable and sincere, not what some may think of as stereotypical religious fiction. I enjoyed Stark’s believable rendering of a widow’s slow return to life.

Written in first person in the style of a diary, this is a tender story of a widow who is trying to reason out her life without her mate. In addition to losing her spouse, she realizes that has she has lost herself. Although the topic is sad, the book is not. Rather, it's a love story of a butterfly emerging from the cocoon of grief.

One day, the protagonist ponders the question, Do you want to get well? Audrey Eaton, an intelligent woman, who freely admits her fears and flaws, answers in the affirmative and sets out on a journey of discovery. As she experiences new places, she reflects back on pieces of her life with family and friends in an interesting format. She carries her husband's Bible and begins to read the book of John, making show more applications to her present circumstances.

I read this book in one day and found it surprisingly unpredictable. It's definitely a winner! I think that every person would benefit from reading this one. show less

Although I'm not a widow, I have friends who are. I was reluctant to check this book out for a long time, but finally did and am glad I did. Audrey's reading the book of John made me decide to read it again. Although the book is fiction, it feels like a real diary and true story.

The journal-style of this book made it very easy to read. Unfortunately, in my opinion, that is where the positive aspects end. Jackina Stark's writing is passable in the technical sense. Howver, it lacks the emotion which one would expect to accompany the story of a widowed woman trying to heal herself following the untimely death of her husband. In addition, the plot seemed extremely contrived and predictable: widow sits home in a depression for 15 months following her husbands death; one day,she jumps in the car and decides to drive across the country alone and without an agenda; she reconnects with old friends,meets new ones, and VOILA...she returns home a healed woman! Finally, this novel has a very heavy religious leaning. I found show more the constant interjection of scripture quite preachy. show less

There are certain books out there that no matter what the writing is like you just love it for the story. I've heard this over and over again about Harry Potter and the Twilight series(I wouldn't know as I haven't read either of them). Tender Grace is that for me. There's not much to the book but it was refreshing and I liked it despite its little imperfections.

This is the story of Audrey Eaton. Fifteen months earlier her husband of 30 years died and she has still not recovered. Depressed and unmotivated to do anything but watch TV all day long, Audrey decides she needs something to snap herself out of this "living death" she is going through. So she packs her bags and her husband's old Bible and takes a road trip from Missouri to show more northern CA; no plans, no agenda, just an unrushed trip to see what there is to see. As she slowly sheds her grief she comes to realise a truth she had forgotten, that God is there with her during her hardest struggles and will bring her through even this.

The writing is not spectacular and the characters are a bit too perfect but I really liked this story. I said it once already but the word that keeps coming to mind is "refreshing." Of the four books I've read so far this year this is the third one dealing with death and grief but it was the most pleasant one. As Audrey writes in her diary daily she slowly reveals what she misses about her old life with Tom and why she finds it so hard to move on but as she meets new people and experiences life without her beloved husband she sort of remembers what it was like to be just Audrey without being attached to anyone else.

As Audrey makes this journey she reads from Tom's old Bible. When he died he was going through the gospel of John so Audrey goes through it too a little each day, stretching it out over her 6 week trip. She reflects on the holy words of God and they end up corresponding with her experiences. As a Christian woman I appreciated seeing Scripture handled tenderly and not mutilated to fit an agenda. While the book is non judgemental it's definitely intended for a Christian audience.

So if you are having a rough time of it, like I was today, you might try this one. From the title to the cover art to the content, I really enjoyed it and can recommend it as a non offensive, light hearted, peaceful read. show less

I enjoyed this thought-provoking journey of a widow facing life without her soulmate. It was touching, yet honest. Painful at times, and accented throughout with Audrey's references to the Bible. Though I could not relate to Audrey's position in life, I was definitely able to feel her emotions through Tender Grace. Enough so that I gifted the book to a friend who had recently lost her life partner unexpectedly--with a story very similar to Audrey's.