Alyssa Brugman has written a stunning debut novel, Finding Grace. 

If she never writes another piece she will still stand out in my mind as a brilliant author.  Her memorable characters and plot, with which we can all relate on some level, have culminated in a truly remarkable book.

Grace is an intelligent woman with a promising career whose future seems to have been shattered after a brain injuring accident.  She is frustratingly trapped within the confines of her injuries, but she is still inside, somewhere.  Mr Preston, the lawyer taking care of Grace's affairs after the accident, has a curiously close relationship with her and cares for her with astounding tenderness and compassion.  He employs Rachel as a carer.  She is 18 and knows everything.  Well, maybe not everything.  She's quirky and bright, and Mr Preston identifies her as the perfect person to be Grace's live-in carer.  She undertakes an intriguing journey of discovery, she's finding Grace, and finding grace.

This vivacious novel offers great reading for a diverse audience.  Its appeal is immediately evident; from the outset it effervesces with humour and refreshing insight into the mind of Rachel - a beautifully ordinary, yet inspiringly unique eighteen year old.  Brugman has taken the many issues facing young adults in transition from high school to the world beyond, and articulated them in a non-confronting way.

Brugman's primary storyline is concerned with discovering Grace: who she was before the accident, what her relationship with Mr. Preston was and how her accident occurred, are all burning questions, and throughout the story Rachel manages to place the pieces of the puzzle together.  Alongside this however, Rachel is undergoing her own rites of passage.  She is maturing from a schoolgirl to a young woman, realizing her responsibilities and ultimately fulfilling them with grace.

This novel has covered all elements of the emotional spectrum.   I laughed.  I cried.  I couldn't help but read pieces out aloud to anyone who was around.  When I did this, we laughed and we cried together.  It is so highly engaging that if you begin to read it, Rachel's character somehow consumes you so that it is as though you become Rachel yourself.  You can feel her initial naïvety and immaturity, and you can feel it peel away, piece by piece.

While Finding Grace suits a wide audience, I fear that it may be slightly gendered.  Written from a young woman's perspective, perhaps some males would have difficulty identifying with the text as closely as women could.  On the other hand however, many issues faced are universal.  If males allowed themselves to be immersed, they would be highly rewarded with new insights and understandings of life.

Brugman fully deserves to be congratulated for a fantastic piece of work.  I have nothing more to say than this: Read it!

Other books by this author:
Walking Naked (Allen & Unwin, 2002)

 Review by Leanne Carter

© 2002 Leanne Carter