Grace

Dear Listener,

I am often asked where my stories come from. I'm not always sure. Sometimes a story just comes to me in waves (or trickles) of inspiration and oftentimes it's not until the very end of the book that I see where my characters are taking me. This is such a tale.

Grace is the story of a young runaway girl and the boy who hides her from a frightening world too large and unfathomable for him to comprehend. It is also about two brothers and the love that binds them together through difficult times.

In some ways this is the most autobiographical of all my novels. When I was eight years old my father lost his job, and we sold our home in beautiful and aptly named Arcadia, California, to move to a poor neighborhood in Utah and into a rundown home like the one I describe in the story. I have no fond memories of that time. Not one. I wanted to go home.

I've found my home now, and it has...

Rebecca Vnuk - Library Journal

Would it be Christmas without a tale from Evans (The Gift; The Christmas Box)? In the 1960s, Eric discovers his schoolmate Grace hiding in a dumpster after running away from her abusive stepfather. He offers her shelter in an old backyard clubhouse and becomes her best friend, not realizing the depths of her painful family life until it's too late. Years later, Eric, now a doctor devoted to helping abused children, reflects on this tragic period of his life. Touching and sad, this is sure to match Evans's previous successes on the best sellers list. [See Prepub Alert, LJ6/15/08.]

With his surprise breakthrough smash The Christmas Box, former ad exec and animator Richard Paul Evans began one of the most successful writing careers in recent history. His inspirational stories of faith, family, and love have broken records, regularly topped bestseller lists, and won the author countless devoted followers throughout the world.