The Saving Graces Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Name: The Saving Graces
Rating: 4.7 (11 reviews)
Author: Patricia Gaffney
ISBN: 9780060191924

The Saving Graces

by Patricia Gaffney

Critics' Consensus (5):

Readers' Rating (11):

First Published:
Jun 1, 1999, 416 pages

Paperback:
Apr 2000, 544 pages

X
- Literary Fiction
- USA
- Mid-Atlantic, USA
- Washington DC
- 1980s & '90s
- Uplifting
- Female Friendships
Genres & Themes
Publication Information

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Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

About This Book

Isabel, Emma, Rudy and Lee are four Washington, D.C. women of different ages, from very different backgrounds, who share an unbreakable bond. They've named themselves "The Saving Graces" after Grace, a mutt they accidentally hit with their car, then rescued. For ten years the women have met weekly to eat, chat, and shore each other up in the face of anything life can dish out.

As The Saving Graces begins, each woman is on the cusp of a major challenge: Emma will fall into tormented love with a married man; Rudy's controlling husband will close in on her just as she's making progress overcoming her troubled past; Lee will be unable to conceive a baby; and Isabel's cancer will relapse. It's Isabel's illness that draws the four women together more tightly than ever and takes their friendship, love, and courage to the limit.

Told from four different perspectives, The Saving Graces is a captivating, complex story, and a heartfelt tribute to the beauty of female friendship.

Questions for Discussion

Which Grace do you relate to most, and why? What do you define as "grace"? Where do you find it in your life?

Why do you think the author starts and ends the story from Emma's point of view? Would you consider Emma the main character?

When Lee is describing Isabel for the first time, she says, "Some people are born knowing things the rest of us spend our lives trying to learn." What kind of things do you think she's talking about? Do you agree with Lee? What do you think Isabel had, or knew, that the other Graces didn't?

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How does the author develop themes of identity and belonging throughout the narrative?
What role does the setting play in shaping the characters' decisions and relationships?
Discuss how the ending reframes the events of the story. Were you surprised?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of HarperTorch. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.

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