Amazing Grace Adams

An Instant New York Times Bestseller
A Today Read With Jenna Book Club Pick

"I dare you not to fall wildly in love with Grace...It's a book about love, about grace, about even when we fall from those we love we can always find our way home...You will laugh on the first page and you will keep laughing until you're crying on the last page." -Jenna Bush Hager, The Today Show's #ReadwithJenna

Bernadette, Eleanor Oliphant, Rosie, Ove ... meet Amazing Grace Adams, the funny, touching, unforgettable story of an invisible everywoman pushed to the brink-who finally pushes back.

Grace Adams gave birth, blinked, and now suddenly she is forty-five, perimenopausal and stalled-the unhappiest age you can be, according to the Guardian. And today she's really losing it. Stuck in traffic, she finally has had enough. To the astonishment of everyone, Grace gets out of her car and simply walks away.

Grace sets off across London, armed with a 200GBP cake, to win back her estranged teenage daughter on her sixteenth birthday. Because today is the day she'll remind her daughter that no matter how far we fall, we can always get back up again. Because Grace Adams used to be amazing. Her husband thought so. Her daughter thought so. Even Grace thought so. But everyone seems to have forgotten. Grace is about to remind them ... and, most important, remind herself.

Macmmillan/Henry Holt and Co. | Sept 5, 2023 | 272 pages | ISBN:9781250857019 | Women's Fiction

1. Amazing Grace Adams is both a story about one woman having to find herself again, and rebuild her relationship with her daughter. How did these facets of the story work together? Did you find yourself rooting for Grace?

2. Grace is 45, the unhappiest age you can be, according to the Guardian. How does society erase women over 40? Why do you think that is? How does this story help you see the women in your life differently?

3. On page 17, the author writes: "And standing there, staring at her stupid disappearing mouth, she pictures her daughter there moments ago, considers the fucking terrible timing of it all. How, just at the point that she - that all the mothers - are drying up from the inside out (or from the outside in, who could possibly call it?), the daughters are busting out all over with the exact same firm, ripe potency they are losing. And maybe the worst part is they don't even know it." Do you agree with this?

4. Language plays an important role in the book, as both Grace and her husband are polyglots. How does being an acclaimed polyglot contribute to Grace's midlife crisis? What other languages do you speak or wish you spoke? Who is the word nerd in your book club?

5. When Grace receives the divorce papers from her husband on page 68, her daughter Lotte walks in, completely oblivious to Grace's state, and starts to scarf down some orange juice from the refrigerator. The author writes: "And it strikes Grace how they notice everything and nothing, these selective, narcissistic young adults. Everything you don't want them to see." Do you think Grace is correct? Or do you think teens notice the good things too but just don't comment on them?

6. What is the significance of the theme of the cake? How would you have responded in Grace's shoes? Do you think it's Grace's make-or-break moment?

7. Later in the novel, when Grace can't pay for a drink, a woman pays for her. And then extends her kindness by bandaging her blisters. On page 157, she says: "You've been in the wars." Has Grace been in the wars? Is menopause a war? Is marriage? Is motherhood?

8. There are a lot of flashbacks to Grace's past throughout the novel. Did these glimpses of the past enable you to better understand Grace's actions? Did they make you more sympathetic to her?

9. On page 160, Grace says, "Sometimes I have so much rage it scares me." Discuss female rage. Do you think female rage is treated differently than male rage? Do you think women have more to be angry about? Why or why not? What do you think the book has to say about this?

10. The novel is rich with themes of love, hope, joy, and grief. What are some examples of these themes in the book? Are there any moments that encompass all four? What lessons did you ultimately take away from Grace's story?

Book Club Talking Points:
This book is excellent for a book club because it sparks easy discussions. We can all relate to feeling overwhelmed, and Grace's story captures that well. It's amusing, yet it also encourages reflection on marriage, motherhood, and finding oneself after focusing on others for so long. You'll laugh out loud at parts and agree with others. It's an excellent choice for conversations about the messy yet beautiful sides of life.

A Today Show #ReadwithJenna Book Club Pick
An Instant New York Times Bestseller
An IndieNext Pick for September 2023


"I dare you not to fall wildly in love with Grace...It's a book about love, about grace, about even when we fall from those we love we can always find our way home...You will laugh on the first page and you will keep laughing until you're crying on the last page." -Jenna Bush Hager, The Today Show's #ReadwithJenna

"Grace Adams is also the latest in a series of brilliant, beautiful and privileged protagonists (Amy Dunne, Bernadette Fox, Barbie) undone by the challenges of modern womanhood." -The New York Times Book Review

"A gripping story of joy, grief, stress, worry, love at first sight, parenting...frank, nuanced, and evocative." -Kirkus Reviews

"Hugely enjoyable. Compelling, funny and poignant. I devoured it." -Paula Hawkins, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Girl On The Train

"I just adored this beautiful debut novel! Funny, moving and at times absolutely heartbreaking, it had me captivated until the very last page. An unforgettable read." -Liane Moriarty, New York Times bestselling author of Big Little Lies

"From the first hot minute when Grace Adams, stalled in traffic, stuck in her car, simply opens the door and walks away from it all-into her day, the single day that gathers all her days up to this tipping point at the middle, she had me. How life in the middle of our lives breaks us open-and apart-and then open again. I finished her story on a plane above the country, so full, and in tears. 'Ma'am?' my seat-mate asked, 'are you ok?' 'Oh, yes,' I answered. And gave him this book." -Sarah Blake, New York Times bestselling author of The Postmistress and The Guest Book

"Amazing Grace Adams is an exacting and brilliantly structured novel about love, grief, hope lost and then found again. I rooted for Grace from the first sentence." -Mary Beth Keane, New York Times bestselling author of Ask Again, Yes

"Fran Littlewood has written a magnificent novel. Grace Adams is everywoman - filled with promise, trepidatious in love and eventually, a besotted mother. Amazing Grace Adams is a fully realized story of catastrophe and joy, grief and love, and the hidden chambers of the human heart that carry the best and worst of our experience. A stunning debut." -Adriana Trigiani, bestselling author of The Good Left Undone

"I can't remember the last time I read a novel with such unbridled enthusiasm. Amazing Grace Adams is a raw, uproariously hilarious portrait of parenthood, love, and family; it's also a profound examination of the way language can both save us and fail us when we need it the most. I'd walk across London on the hottest day of the year with Fran Littlewood-hell, I'd walk anywhere with her. I'm begging you: read this book." -Grant Ginder, author of Let's Not Do That Again and The People We Hate at the Wedding

"I devoured it. Vivid, visceral, and incredibly emotional. I laughed and sobbed." -Tim Minchin, Tony Award nominee, Matilda the Musical and Groundhog Day the Musical