Book Review: Ordinary Grace Novels & Stories

"I know you don't and that's what makes it hard." For a moment, Cara looked away, her eyes settling on the trimmed hedges ahead. The memories were still there, sharp and uninvited, but they no longer had the power to break her. Still, they hadn’t disappeared either. "I didn’t come here for forgiveness," Every said, as if sensing the direction of her thoughts. "I’m not that naive." "Good," she replied, her tone clear. "Because I don’t have it to give." Every nodded, accepting it without resistance. "I came because of those children inside, they deserve to know where they come from. They deserve a family that isn’t built on silence and distance."

Grace said as she shoved me out of kitchen while I laughed. Grace Williams was a black American who I met the first day I stepped foot on foreign grounds. We weren’t roommates then since she was a college student and I was a Masters student but I was two years older and we had a lot in common including birth month. It was strange, she was light skinned; honey but people who saw us for the first time always asked if we were sisters. When we graduated and got decent employment, we bought this apartment and moved in together. Grace works at a publishing house as the chief editor and she’s been producing a lot of accomplished authors’ books. She also features as a guest for certain magazines tha

Grace flinched but kept walking. Sebastian watched them walk away and spoke quietly to his friends, “There is one thing that they said today that was true. Grace is a devout Greek Orthodox Christian.” He looked at Celine and winked, then whispered, “My little genius.” Grace was seated at the witness stand. Even with her lovely makeup and clothes, she looked small and wan. The bailiff was a young man who obviously had a soft spot for Grace if all the big-eyed glances he cast her way could be counted as evidence. Grace was the perfect honey trap. Though she normally was not a timid woman, at that moment, she looked vulnerable, and her vulnerability enhanced her beauty.

She did the same for him. One evening, as they walked through the city, Grace noticed a small bookstore she had never seen before. They went in on impulse. The space was narrow, warm, filled with the smell of paper and dust. Grace wandered the aisles slowly. She picked up a novel, then another. She realized she had not read fiction in months. Everything she consumed had been functional. Informational. Necessary. She chose a book without overthinking it. At home later, she read until midnight. The story was ordinary, human, unresolved. She loved it. When she closed the book, she felt something shift. She was no longer only responding to the world. She was engaging with it for pleasure again.

Grace was deep in thought for a while and although Jason noticed it, He let Grace Be as they waited their turn. Grace Knew what it felt to be pushed aside, She knew what it felt to be overpowered and pushed to the back , because your name wasn't profound, It had happened all her life, Since she couldn't control it She beared with it. Grace always prayed that if she became rich, she hoped to be kind and selfless.

Life was spontaneous. Grace craved redundancy, simplicity, and, well, ordinary. But when midnight rolled around, her mind still hadn’t settled in regards to the vampire. Giving up, she returned to the kitchen, grabbed the book, and prowled to bed. She promised just a few more passages, just a few pages... damn it, then she’d start craving redundancy again.

Then I set the page down. I looked at Grace properly. This woman who had spent two weeks of her own time running down a bag in a grainy security still, because she understood without needing to be asked why it mattered. The gratitude that moved through me was genuine and quiet and not the kind that needed dressing up. 'Grace.' My voice came out softer than I intended. 'Take whatever time you need. Whatever resources. What you have done here is extraordinary.' Something moved briefly through her expression before she steadied it. She nodded once, the kind of nod that didn't need anything added to it.

Raising a hand, I ruffled her hair, almost surprised by the softness of her strands, but before the timing became too long, I retreated. My eyes slowly crept over her body, wondering how a human could look so flawless. I understand the feelings of falling in love, I've been in love before too, and I understand how that feeling can blind a person to see perfection in the person they love, but this isn't like that. I was looking at this woman through normal eyes with no bias, and there's something eerily peculiar about her, something that separates her from the rest of humanity.

"The route the cows would follow through the fields to get to the barn. They weren't necessarily the easiest or the smartest routes. Just the only ones the cows knew and so they always followed them." "You mean like Margie? Assuming the most unlikely thing just because it's the most dramatic?" I nod, running my hands over my rounded belly and the children I'm looking forward to having with Rob, but I also mean my grandparents. "Whatever roots are here, they’re still mine. Flawed or otherwise. Regardless of what Margie's uncle the priest used to say, I think maybe seeing things through together, even when it’s hard, and letting go of the past is the true work of Grace."

I had truly moved on from her. It was odd, really. Even I didn't know when I'd stopped feeling anything for Sandra. I didn't get angry when she was affectionate with Lester, and my heart no longer fluttered when I looked at her. It remained still. A dull ache hit Sandra's chest, and an inexplicable wave of panic crashed over her. She forced herself upright and awkwardly crawled off the ground. She limped toward me, reaching out to grab the hem of my shirt. "Fred, I was wrong. Please give me one more chance…"