Full of Grace

My son in law was diagnosed with Stage 1V brain cancer in 2014. They collected before surgery and now have four year old Nellie Mae. She is adorable. This book touched me as we believe he has been healed(we are Baptist) but through prayer and belief in God’s plan we feel God has healed him. Thank you for this beautiful book of faith in God. I also write. Pam Rainey Denton Record Chronicle, Denton, Texas ( my articles have been published for 24 years once a month first Sunday of the month)

Excellent read! To me, it started out slow, in fact, I started not to finish it. But who stops reading a Dottie Frank book? No one. I am so glad I finished it. I skipped over the million words that I could not pronounce, lol, let alone know their meaning. I normally pick up a new word or two when reading, but mercy this one had an over abundance. It has peaked my interest into the Catholic faith. I am intrigued and want to learn more. Thanks Mrs. Frank for entertaining me once again.

Frank is a good writer. You always want to read the next chapter. However, this particular book "Grace" almost falls into a religious genre since so much of the conflict centers around the tenets of the Catholic Church, Maria's New Jersey Catholic Italian family (now living in Hilton Head) and her beloved Irish boyfriend, whose beliefs perhaps fall into the agnostic category. However, the characters are fully developed and you grow to know them and wish them the best. This takes place over several holiday reunions as the characters and story develop to a predictable ending.

This is the first book I have read by this author and it will be my last. Almost quit reading this early on but did end up finishing it, as I wanted to see how the miracle happened. The beginning was just boring. Didn’t like many of the characters at first, especially some members of Grace’s family. Some of them did grow on me a little. Not a lot of depth to the story, even, or especially, the miracle part. Other reviews thought it was too Catholic. (Would they say that about Protestant characters?). The faith aspect should have been included in the book’s description if this is not usual for this author.

Grace adores her family. It's just that sometimes they drive her a little crazy. And in particular, she hates that they don't approve of her boyfriend Michael. But a crisis occurs, leading to some changes for Grace and the rest of the Russo clan.I fell in love with the Russo clan. I adored the family gatherings, as there were many bright/funny/oddball characters that made up the family to catch your interest. But I have to say that I was a bit disappointed by the plot as a whole. The religion question was interesting at first, but I thought it dragged on a bit much at times, slowing down the story. And then suddenly, the main crisis/question defining the novel came to a resolution, which just felt much to quick for my taste.

Worst of them all...I've read all of DBF's books, and this is by far the worst. I read her books to get my lowcountry fix..the southern characters, the recognizable geographical locals, the southern culture. This book had almost none of it. The main character is unlikable - judgmental, sarcastic, spiritually bereft, not even southern. All the main characters are from NEW JERSEY! There are no landmarks mentioned in the Hilton Head locale, and very few in Charleston. This book was a waste of my money!

I’ve read all of her books and recommend them to women everywhere. You will love her characters and maybe even fall in love with the islands of South Carolina as I have. After reading Shem Creek, I had to go there and to others in SC.

This was an excellent change of pace for the typical low-country book. The setting was not only the south, but the main character, Grace, traveled to Sardinia and Mexico for her job and we learned about the scenery and culture there as well.Yet another Frank character is stricken with cancer in this novel, but there is a completely different take. In this story, Grace, tells the story of her devout Catholic Italian family and their struggles accepting her live-in boyfriend, Michael, an Irish Atheist who works on stem-cell research. Michael discovers he has a horrible, incurable brain tumor and Grace and her family learn how to come together and handle things the way they know best. The end of the story is a little hard to relate to, but it's nice to think about and kind of reassuring.

I like Dorothea Benton Frank, but this one missed its target by a mile. Heroine, estranged from loud and embarrassing Italian-American family, lives in Charleston with her boyfriend, to the horror of her family.Doctor boyfriend is into evil works, such as stem cell research. He also keeps an important secret from her, namely, that his mother is dying of Alzheimer's disease. He becomes ill but refuses for a long time to see a doctor. Eventually he is found to be suffering from incurable brain cancer...That's just the start of the book and it steadily gets sicklier from thereon. Unless you want a sugar overdose and highly suspect twists of the plot, I really wouldn't bother.

Great & Prompt

This one I did not like as well as the other two DBF I have read...It is well written but I was expecting more about the Lowcountry. This is really the story of a miracle, and miracles are good. Whetehr you believe them or not. It is just not as appealing to me as her other novels. Still, I would like to know what happens to Grace and "the boyfriend", whether they start something that makes them more of a fixture in the Lowcountry life....Practicing catholics will love it and be very moved by it. i did enjoy the descriptions of Sardinia and Napa, though.

great book