Grace Granville, teenager and budding fashion designer, falls in love and makes a choice which takes her a long way from her privileged, familiar world. House of Grace is first in the ‘House of Grace’ family saga trilogy by Patricia M Osborne. Grace’s story starts in 1950 as she leaves boarding school in Brighton and travels to Lancashire to stay with her best friend from school, Katy. Coming from a sheltered childhood with a strict father and little emotional closeness, Grace is keen to make her own way in life. But when she sees the new Katy, free from the restrictions of school rules –  she smokes, has a boyfriend who she disappears into the bushes with – Grace is shocked, and intrigued. Katy’s family, though wealthy, are friendly, emotionally open and mix with people from different backgrounds. Completely the opposite to Grace’s parents. When Grace meets Katy’s cousin Jack, a coal miner’s son, she falls in love. Their summer romance is brought to an abrupt halt by Grace’s father who insists she marry one of the eligible suitors he has lined up for her. He is adamant that her new life as a wife and mother must begin now. But Grace, having seen the freedom of Katy’s family life, now knows there’s another way. She loves Jack and still dreams of designing and making clothes. The decision she makes changes everything.
House of Grace is a story of social conflict at a time when women, exploring freedoms glimpsed during World War Two, wanted more than a domestic bliss as imagined by men. This is an easy-to-read family saga of a young woman’s life, which I read over a weekend, with clearly-drawn characters and striking parallels between the social classes and inequalities of the 1950s and 60s. This is a more a family story rather than a focus on the battle to established Grace’s fashion business, this happens in the background and I was quite curious to know more about it.
A quick refreshing read, ideal if you need a change of pace. I really enjoyed it and am intrigued to read the next in the trilogy, The Coal Miner’s Son, and to find out what’s in store for Grace’s children, George and Alice.
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If you like this, try:-
‘A Daughter’s Hope’ by Margaret Kaine
‘The Orphan Twins’ by Lesley Eames
‘Pattern of Shadows’ by Judith Barrow

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HOUSE OF GRACE by @PMOsborneWriter #bookreview https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-6wu via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:-