A lovely, lovely book in the vein of Eleanor Oliphant - it's both heart warming and soul destroying in equal measure.

Grace has been seeing David for 8 years, but he also has a wife at home - they are staying together solely for the kids. He lives in France, which means Grace has to do much of the running around. At home, she runs an instrument repair shop - a nod to Grace's previous passion for playing the cello, which has sadly made her feel a failure. However, when David is thrust into the media spotlight, this fragile relationship is pushed to the limit. Supported by her work colleagues, Grace is shown the positive side of life and hopefully, future happiness.

I really loved Eleanor Oliphant and this story is very similar - both deal with loneliness and the power of human connection. It's quite an inspirational story, and I'm really glad this is becoming a trend in publishing - life affirming literature is great to read.

Delighted. Enchanted. Absorbing.

Three words that describe just how much I enjoyed this book,

Two things really caught my attention.

I love the cello as an instrument and this book captured me so quickly with the wonder of Grace and her cello. I knew several of the pieces she played but as I came across music I didn’t know I hunted out recordings and, as well as enjoying the book for itself, I was introduced to a new world of music on this glorious instrument.

The second was how mobile phone and social media, an integral part of our modern world, can have such an impact on people’s lives. The scenario that plays out is more than plausible which makes for the basis of a good story, well told, and continually believable.

It’s an easy yet engaging read, with unexpected depth and some wonderful character development. I found myself reading at every opportunity and getting slower and slower as I came towards the last few chapters as I didn’t want to finish a book I was enjoying so much.

What is not to love about this book, it emphasises the magic and emotional impact of music and how you can pick yourself up from your darkest moments and start again.

Grace Atherton is in a long term relationship with an emotionally unavailable man and is happy to let her life revolve around him and his other committments, her other great love is her musical instruments that she lovingly restores but does not have the confidence to play in front of anyone any longer.

This book is a brilliant story of self discovery, how when you think that life has nothing else left to offer you that there is always a reason to pick yourself back up, dust yourself off and start again. A story that oozes compassion, the emotional impact of music and how you can find the inner strength and self belief to be happy again.

I read this emotional story over a few days and absolutely fell in love with Grace and her wonderful friends Mr Williams and Nadia. The descriptions were amazing and it left you feeling the journey of each musical instrument and the pieces of music that they were playing. This was my first read by Antsey Harris but certainly won't be my last as it was such a beautiful story

Sorry, unable to read this as I ran out of time due to family stuff............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

“What we know as a cello is actually called a violincello...”

Grace is happy with the small lines around her life: she works in her violin shop in Kent, plays her cello in private, and spends the rest of her time in Paris with her partner, David. As far as she’s concerned, she doesn’t need anything, or anyone, else.

But all is not what it seems within these lines - when it comes to either Grace’s past or her present - and when her life is turned upside down, Grace must build it back up again from scratch. It’s the rebuilding that makes The Truths and Triumphs of Grace Atherton a truly heartwarming read (not to mention a fascinating look inside the classical music world).

I don’t want to spoil the carefully plotted revelations that we can just tell are waiting for us from the early pages, the tension built carefully, bit-by-bit with flashbacks, but in short, The Truths and Triumphs of Grace Atherton is a delightful, uplifting read about love, friendship, and the restorative power of music.

An enjoyable tale, with beautifully drawn characters. Lovely descriptions of places which transport the reader. A good read which keeps you reading right to the last page.

Grace is a cellist but only plays to herself after an incident at college. Instead she focuses on repairing and making instruments. She is also having a long time affair with a married man. When an incident reveals their affair Grace is thrown into a whirlwind that only she can get herself through.

This is quite a quick read. It looks at the devastation of losing those we love in many different ways. Grace really does through the wringer in this and we follow her through every emotion. She's an easily likeable character despite some of her actions. The story was interesting and the ending was utterly perfect. I was worried it might end another way and I'm so glad it didn't. There are few other characters in this so they each compliment Grace perfectly. I loved all the detail to making instruments and even the playing of them. An emotional read but well worth it.

*Book provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

I was very intrigued by the title, as well as the blurb of this book. I didn’t really know what to expect, but it certainly took me by surprise.

It’s different from the books I normally read because the author's style is very unique and special. In a good way of course. The plot is full of twists and turns and I also really enjoyed the musical aspect of the story.

It was very interesting to follow Grace’s story. I really liked her as a character and the way she developed in this story. Mr. Williams and Nadia helped her get through everything and that was lovely to see. What Grace had and has to deal with is not easy, so I was glad she had some support. I didn’t like David from the story, but that also made the reading more exciting.

It’s a charming, captivating and thought-provoking book!

4.5/5

From the title and book cover I thought this book would be a normal run of the mill 'chick lit' novel, but this book by Anstey Harris was a much more cultured, upmarket version. As a musician myself, I loved the way the author described the violin maker at work and the history of Cremona. Sometimes authors make things too detailed but Anstey got the balance just right. The first half of the book was perhaps a little slow but I absolutely loved the trip to Cremona and I really loved the ending.

I really enjoyed this book it was a coming of age book even though Grace is in her 30's. She has devoted her last 8 years to David the love of her life and as the relationship unravels it is her 'friends' that get her through. The story is really well written and you are with grace every step of the way.

A great story of love, loneliness and friendship.

In the beginning, it was a bit difficult to read the book and not judge Grace but as the story progressed I cried and rejoiced with Grace and her friends.

Grace is a violin maker and this is her story which is told like a symphony. Like a symphony, there was a rise and a fall accompanied by a crescendo that was followed by a beautiful but unexpected ending. If you read the book, then I think you'll agree with me.

Although the making of violin and the talk associated with it left me confused but overall, I will highly recommend this book. I didn't think I would find a book like this after reading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, but I did.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC! Thank you, Anstey Harris, for creating this work of art. It was brilliant !

I took me until about half way to get into this book, but when I did I was desperate to finish it and find out more!
I really liked the 4 main characters and thought the scene setting was great. I want to go back to Paris now and visit small Italian towns!

Grace Atherton’s life is a bit unusual in that her long-term boyfriend is actually a married man with another family, and she spends her time making beautiful violins and cellos. She’s also a fantastic cellist but has a paralysing fear about playing in front of other people. When one small act ends up turning Grace’s life and future plans upside down, she must find the strength within herself to continue on and triumph.

This is the type of book that I knew would be a really enjoyable read, and one to really set me off on a good path for my 2019 reading year. However, I never would have guessed that Grace would burrow her way into my heart the way she did, and utterly charm me with both her personality and her music.

Grace isn’t typically a character you should like - she’s knowingly going out with a married man, who has children with his wife. Yet, there’s something about both Grace and her relationship that is utterly charming. Grace isn’t conniving in any way, she just happened to fall in love with a xmarried man - and the pair were reunited in a grief so early in their relationship, it cemented them together for years to come, even if that relationship is one that not everyone understands.

When Grace was sad and heartbroken in this book, i felt sad and heartbroken. I really felt like i was seeing her come alive in the pages, and her every emotion touched me deeply. I haven’t had a connection like that with a character in a while, and I don’t know why it happened with Grace as we’re very different people but it did. And it meant that my reading of this book was throughly heightened.

I loved that Grace was a violin and cello maker. it’s honestly near something I’ve thought about, but the processes that Grace describes about her art during the book were genuinely fascinating. Music is a huge part of this book, and I felt like I could hear music all the time when i was reading. This book should come with an automatic soundtrack but there is one on the author’s website for those who do want to hear the Libertango for themselves.

I do think the first half of the book could have been tidied up a bit as I would have liked less of the first half and more of the second half with Grace finishing her cello and going to the competition. The first half was just a little bit too drawn out for me, and so the second half was just a tiny bit rushed which was disappointing for me as I was loving Grace’s newfound confidence at the competition, and the various people she gathered around her.

An easy read but also quite predictable. It was interesting that Grace was an instrument maker but I don’t think I learned very much about her craft other than it took layers and layers of varnish. Of course her boyfriend was a rotter, of course the young shop assistant was gutsy and the old patron of her shop managed to suddenly act much younger than he was first painted.

Music, love, friendship, betrayal and still more music

Grace Atherton is the only child in an English middle-class family. From a very young age, her exceptional musical talent and her love for the cello shone forth, and this persuaded her parents to support her and invest in the best musical tuition they could afford. She was always very shy, and she poured all her anxieties into her music instead of working on human relationships.

After school, she was enrolled in a prestigious music conservatoire to take her cello studies further. Her undeniable talent brought her to the attention of the most eminent professor in the Conservatoire, one Nikolai Dernov, who had a worldwide reputation as a musician and as a teacher. She was picked for his personal master class. He had it in for Grace from the start. His tactics were harsh and tyrannical, and however hard she tried to please him, he was never satisfied. Eventually, she suffered the ultimate humiliation of being told to leave the Conservatoire before completing her first year of study because, she thought, of her lack of competence. Or was there perhaps some other reason?

This completely destroyed what little confidence Grace had in herself and in her abilities, and from that time onwards she would never play in public. Instead, she apprenticed herself to a luthier (a stringed instrument maker), eventually opening her own business and workshop in Kent where she specialised in instrument making, repair and restoration, building up an international clientele and a reputation for excellent workmanship...

Grace rarely attended social occasions, but when she was 21, she met and fell deeply in love with a married man, and the next ten years consisted of a series of stolen moments with long periods in between during which she immersed herself in playing her cello (in private) and in her business.

Grace was concentrating on finishing off a cello she was making for the forthcoming Cremona Triennale, the Olympics of stringed instrument making. She was morally supported by an unlikely pair of friends – Nadia, aged 17, a hugely talented violinist, as prickly as a porcupine and just as easily rattled – and Mr Williams, aged 86, courtly, old-school, but gay at a time when it was totally unacceptable to be so. He was a lonely man, mourning the death of his life partner. He was also a skilled violin player.

However, things didn’t turn out according to plan, but to reveal more of this story would be a crime. When I first saw the title of this book my initial reaction was “oh no – chick lit ...” but how wrong I was. As a music lover, I thoroughly enjoyed the musical references, and I was fascinated by the details of how traditional hand-made stringed instruments are constructed. It was a beautifully written and entirely satisfying read, and I re-read the last few chapters twice. I can thoroughly recommend it.

Bennie Bookworm.


Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

This is a lovely book about love, friendship and betrayal. The main character Grace, has had her difficulties in the past and we only find out the cause of these quite far on in the book. She’s an accomplished ‘cello player who only enjoys playing in private and her focus now is on her musical instruments which she repairs and restores.

I loved the many musical references and, despite not being knowledgeable about music, I could appreciate the passion Grace has.

I was very happy with the ending as it could have gone either way and I believe she made the right choice.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book, I found it enchanting and a bit of a music lesson. The characters were lovely and went together so well. Never give up on your dreams no matter how they were shattered applies really well to this story. The love of music and the chelo give this the emotion that it deserves throughout the story. Dreams really do come true as you will see when you read this book. I really liked it and will recommend it.

This was a book about love and friendship and the relationships between the characters was well thought out and robust.

As Grace learns the truths about herself and those around her we travel through her range of emotions that were easy to relate to and empathise with.

There was an emphasis within this story of musicianship, and whilst this would not be a genre I usually read I was able to understand the passion of the artist in their chosen art.

Despite finding this story a little predictable, the richness of this story lay in the details of the everyday and brought all the stories and locations to life. I particularly loved Mr Williams and his life experiences were captured effortlessly through the kindness he shows. A lovely story, with a happy ending.

Sometimes you read a book and you don’t like it. Sometimes you read a book and you do like it, or even love it. And then there are the times when you read a book and it is everything you need at that precise moment in time. For me, The Truths and Triumphs of Grace Atherton by Anstey Harris has been that book.
Grace Atherton’s world revolves entirely around her partner of eight years, David. Then, one day an unexpected event causes her world to spiral out of control and she is left broken hearted. Left to pick up the pieces, she is bolstered by the friendship of an eighty year old man and a tough talking teenage girl. The unlikely trio set about the task of putting Grace and her life back together again.
Music dominates this novel, becoming a major character itself and mirroring Grace and her state of mind throughout. Ever present, it is conveyed with such love and affection that it often left my spine tingling. Although I love music, I don’t know very much about classical music, but through the author’s writing I felt that my mind’s ear was listening to it, the description is sensually stunning and goose bump inducing. I’ll admit that initially I thought that these were the sections that I would skim through, but they quickly became a highlight for me, the beauty of description leaving me almost breathless in awe.
Told throughout in the first person by Grace, we see the world as she sees it, and it becomes quite clear that her world view is somewhat skewed by the events of her life to date. Grace is a flawed character but utterly relatable. She made me want to scream and shout at her, cry with her but always cheer for her. Her journey within the novel was a joy to read and the ending left me with a feeling a immense fulfillment and satisfaction.
Her friends, Mr Williams and Nadia are wonderful supporting characters and the relationship between the three, although unorthodox is lovely. If I could have asked for one more thing from this novel, it would have been more time for these characters, I just could not get enough of them.
There is so much more I would love to say, but I can’t for fear of inadvertently letting slip a nugget of a spoiler. Suffice to say, I highly, highly recommend.
The Truths and Triumphs of Grace Atherton is about knowing the value of your own self worth, having the courage to open up to possibilities and becoming who you’re meant to be. Pure class.

I found the beginning of this book to be quite dramatic - I started to think one way abut a character and then that illusion was shattered to leave me feeling rather torn as to how I felt towards certain characters, including the main character Grace!
On the face of it she has a pretty amazing life. She seems smart, has an astonishing talent and ear for music and a glamourous lifestyle. BUT underneath it all you find that all is not what it seems and when her past becomes clearer you begin to understand a little of why she is the way she is, and how she has allowed herself to be put in certain positions instead of standing up for herself!

She has a lovely supportive friend network, Nadia a young girl who works in the music shop alongside Grace, and Mr Williams who is a regular visitor to the shop. And this is the part of the story I enjoyed the most - the fact that they were there for her, even when she overstepped the line of friendship, and it showed how having people there to believe in you can help you to start having faith in yourself.

The link to music and instruments was a really fascinating side to this book and had me captivated more than the personal life of Grace. Why had she become so reluctant to perform in front of people? And what made her become so reliant on others who didn't have her best interests at heart? There were times I wanted to shake Grace after the way she was living her life! She is a smart woman but seemed to be so blind to what was actually happening to her and would always justify the behaviour of others!

An enjoyable story of a woman who learns the hard way that life and love doesn't run smoothly!