Favorite Quotes:

‘Because I told Mandy she could have Grandmother’s chair over my dead body, and I’m nothing if not a woman of my word.’ Mrs. Fielding had taken that vow to the extreme, I reflected, breathing through my mouth as I looked at where her body sat slumped in that same chair, thinking that new upholstery might not be enough to get the smell of her decomposing body out of the antique for Ms. Yeager.

I wish I understood young people’s obsession with their own genitalia and capturing it for posterity… Honey, there’s not one thing you can do about a man who lacks any class and the sense God gave him and insists on foisting his frank and beans onto your phone screen.

Gracie, you’re a beautiful young woman… But you’re a peacock dressing like a pigeon.

‘First time stripping the taco? … The lady portal. The bizniz. Sweeping the stairway to heaven.’   I stared. ‘Come on, you know—waxing Madame Bovary. First time you got the full monty?’ She made a diamond of her hands around her groin area.

Sugar, when the day comes that someone has to live here with me and wipe my helpless bottom, I assure you he will be far younger, well-muscled, and more macho than you are.

Don’t you know our state mottoes? ‘Florida: home of the newly wed and nearly dead.’ ‘Death’s doorstep.’ ‘Where America goes to die.’ There is a lot of fertile ground here for estate planning.

My Review:

I tumbled right into this engaging, cleverly written, and delightful tale that was packed with all the feels. I reveled in Ms. Fox’s witty descriptions and clever use of humor while we navigated the painfully insightful inner musings of the endearing and lovable character of Grace. Grace was struggling to come to grips with a series of devastating losses and unpleasant surprises. The final straw that proved too much for the normally mild and placid woman to withstand had her boiling over with a level of emotion that shocked her, as much as her impulsive yet clever act of retribution had appalled and dismayed her – she quickly fled town under the cover of darkness for a much-needed vacation.

Phoebe Fox has a smooth and sneaky way of implanting me behind her characters’ eyes. I was right there feeling all of Grace’s feels, my chest was tight when she was devastated, I fist-pumped when she finally got mad, and my eyes burned and lower lip quivered as she sweetly detailed incidents of her childhood with her mother to her long-lost aunt. I think I may have even walked funny after Grace had her first waxing experience. Most of us have known a Grace at some point during our sojourn on earth; Grace was the ultimate small-town “good girl,” sweet, kind, considerate, trustworthy, admirable, unassuming, smart, overlooked, plainly dressed, prepared, making do, and patiently waiting. Full disclosure – I have never been a Grace.

The storyline was superbly crafted and unfailingly entertaining while the writing was witty and wryly amusing yet also thoughtful, emotive, poignant, and keenly insightful. The narrative was vividly detailed with humorous and colorful observations that often had me smirking. I adore Ms. Fox’s endearingly flawed, lovable, and relatable characters; even her secondary characters continually enticed and plucked at my curiosity and had me wanting to know more about them. I adored the ebullient and feisty Aunt Millie, whose inner beauty and indefatigable kindness despite her family’s long-standing history of rejection stung my eyes and made my heart hurt. Literally 😉