About Grace

Anthony Doerr

2004 • 402 pages

Ratings16

Average rating3

“To say this book is beautiful, extraordinary or moving is futile. In comparison with Anthony Doerr’s word-perfect prose, any description of his first novel seems trite. Just buy ‘About Grace,’ call in sick, switch off the phone and see for yourself how good contemporary fiction can be.” —THE GUARDIAN

Inspired by the turn-of-the-century snowflake images taken by Wilson A. Bentley, Anthony’s debut novel is about a hydrologist named David Winkler who occasionally dreams events that later come true. When he has a dream that foretells the death of his own daughter, Grace, he flees thousands of miles from family and home in the desperate hope of contravening fate. The novel takes place in Alaska, the Caribbean, Ohio, and plenty of places in between, and it asks questions about snowflakes, predetermination, the nature of family, forgiveness, and the intersections of the human and natural worlds.

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Minki

his writing style, story telling, plot, characters are just not for me... i can see how people LOOOVE his books and i wish i could but nah.

also the main character is creepy. Stalked a woman until she liked him.. it was very uncomfortable to read honestly.

May 8, 2022

Alison

I reeeeeaaaaaally wanted to like this book but I guess it was just the warm up for All the Light We Cannot See. The main character wasn't enough to keep me really interested and I found myself wondering more about the lives of pretty much every other person in the book more than him. Though the language is lovely and there are some beautiful things said about family and love, I was ultimately pretty disappointed.

May 10, 2018