If you loved the Keeper of Lost Things and Elinor Olliphant is Completely. Fine you will thoroughly enjoy this book too.
A powerful tale of an extremely bright woman who finally sees what can be achieved and how to change your life. I found it quite emotional because I could really relate to the characters. The characters are delightful and I look forward to reading more books by this wonderful author.

This book starts as a love story. The author has created very strong characters who are living in their own bubble of romance. He is married,she isn,t. (Grace and David).They meet often in his Paris apartment. This romantic idyll is challenged when he assists a woman who has fallen onto the tracks of the Paris metro. As a result his picture is in all the newspapers and social medial The author then takes us on the journey that wends its way through emotional turmoil as well as some stark revelations. Other characters are brought to life in the book. These are the people who know Grace through her work as a cello and violin maker. They all have a story that is intricately woven into the events that happen. I really had a sense of these characters lives and how they had coped with their own different life events.

I enjoyed the book tremendously, especially as it developed and demonstrated how Grace managed to turn her life around. Without her friends though it could have been a different story!

My only criticism was the ending. Somehow it didn't seem to have a great deal of substance in contrast to the rest of the book where substance and detail had sat comfortably with the story.

A good read though!

I adored this book, literally binge read it as was addicted from the beginning. I drew many parallels from Grace Atherton, trusting and loving the wrong people, not letting the right people in, and blaming the past for the actions of the present. The story unfolds as Grace opens up to those who deserve her trust and love and a life she should have been living unfolds. I cried for her and with her, laughed for her and with her, had such feelings of pride for her and her true friends. A truly inspirational story.

This was a wonderful book, beautifully written, with great characters. I loved them all - well, all but one. I never give any details of the story in a review, as you can get that from the fly leaf or on Amazon, and maybe knowing that the making of musical instruments plays a large part could put some people off - but please don’t let it.
I haven’t enjoyed a book so much for quite a while and didn’t want to put it down - and when I had to, I couldn’t wait to get back to it.
The story and writing seem quite stilted and stylised as first, but that’s just setting the scene. If you don’t read this book, you’ll miss something quite special.

Grace Atherton is a cello obsessed woman, who is having a relationship with the man who she feels will be with her forever. After a heroic act, it all starts to unravel as we discover that Grace has been living in a bit of a bubble, not seemingly to mind about his wife and family. As more information comes to light, we see him as the true man that he is and whilst I have some sympathy with Grace, you really want to shake her out of it.
Her reaction to the situation puts pressure on the people that surround her and the story opens up to the relationships she can maintain and help to flourish, however unlikely they may be. This is where the book is at its best, turning a wretched scenario into something more uplifting and heart warming.
It has been likened to Eleanor Oliphant and The Keeper of Lost Things but I feel it has its own originality and is not in the same vein.
I would recommend this as a good read, engaging and ultimately life affirming.

I loved this book. So much so that I've gone to sleep later than I should have done several days this week.
It wasn't quite what I expected; Grace's relationship surprised me for a start, and the music. I love books where you can feel music in their soul, where you want to look up the music referenced, which really bring out the character of the instruments (I loved the Piano Shop on the Left Bank for this very reason).
The book is effectively the story of before and after a key event in Grace's life (as alluded to in the abstract). There are a couple of shocking moments for any music lovers, but I love how the story unfolds, how the characters develop and gel together. The book risked a fairy tale ending, but thankfully the author resisted this, going for a much more satisfying alternative. I'd definitely recommend this as much as Eleanor Oliphant (and the Piano Shop on the Left Bank which I now want to reread!).

This book is a real gem of a find! It tells the tale of a lost soul who finally finds her way out of the mist to start living again. But of course she has to hit rock bottom before that can happen...

Beautifully written, the chapters are hardly noticed as the text flows so easily between them. The musicality also jumps out and hits you so much that I ended up listening to Bach, Shostakovich and Vivaldi to fill me with essence of the book. The description of the most amazing string instruments is just lovely, such attention to detail.

I loved it and I'm sure I won't be the only one. This is going to be a huge bestseller and deservedly so.

A sweet book with pleasant and likeable characters. Nothing groundbreaking but enjoyable non the less.

A gentle read, full of music and love. This novel has been compared to Eleanor Oliphsnt is Completely Fine. I am sorry though an enjoyable read it had none of the wit of Eleanor.

A true love story in every sense of the word.
Beautifully written story. Love, life and music.
I enjoyed this book.
Thank you to both NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for my eARC in exchange for my honest unbiased review

Grace Atherton is a musician who gave up playing her beloved cello in public when a humiliating and demeaning tutor kicked her out of music college. Since then she has made her living making, restoring and selling stringed instruments in her little shop in a Kentish town. She has an almost (cloyingly) perfect boyfriend and they spend precious times in his apartment in Paris before he returns to his demanding job in Strasberg. However we soon learn that he is returning to his wife and family in Strasberg too - Grace has been his mistress for 8 years putting her life on hold in so many ways and fervently believing his promises that they will be together as soon as his children are old enough to deal with the situation.

An incident in the Paris metro on the return from a classical concert together sets a whole chain of discoveries and events in motion and Grace, with the scales finally fallen from her eyes, reacts in a way that spoils not only the one thing she has been striving for, but also something precious belonging to her customer and good friend, Mr. Williams. It takes Mr. Williams and her Saturday assistant, a talented but spikey young woman called Nadia to get Grace back on track.

The book was a sweet, undemanding read. I liked the information about how violins and cellos are constructed and what makes them “work” and learned things I didn’t know. Anstey Harris writes well. I thoroughly disliked the boyfriend (not unexpectedly ) but unfortunately I was also not that keen on the central character Grace who was generally irritating, definitely naive for her age and a bit of a doormat. I liked the characters of Nadia and Mr. Williams and I certainly wanted to know how things would turn out, so for that reason it kept my interest.

My main criticism (apart from why do publishers insist on comparing new books with something successful already out there - it doesn’t make me more likely to buy it) would have to be that everything ended up so neatly perfect with all ends tied up which, for me, is what moved it from a pretty good read to something more like chick lit. However, overall a nice little read.

I loved 'The Truths and Triumphs of Grace Atherton'. I was swept up by Grace's story from the start and enjoyed watching her blossom as she rebuilds her life after hitting rock bottom. The musical elements add richness and depth to the story and the redemption of the other characters in her unlikely trio ( troubled but brilliant teenager Nadia, and kind but lonely Mr Williams) makes the book triply satisfying.

A gentle, surprising book which was a pleasure to read. The story is about a woman finally taking control of her life by revisiting her past and the support of some unusual friends. It was a refreshing change from the usual formulaic girl comes right in the end tale.

Set in the world of classical music, the book educated me whilst not going overboard with intricate details about the subject. The characters were well written, at times showing raw emotion which tugged at the heartstrings and had you rooting for them while wanting to step in and fight their antagonists on their behalf.

The settings were described well and I easily lost myself in the streets of Paris along with the main character. Well written and researched.

Music and books are my favourite things in all the world and the two come together beautifully, with an intricately woven plot and characters nothing short of delightful. The friendships cultivated between people from completely different backgrounds is heartening, plus I now have a whole new playlist of gorgeous cello tunes to remind me of this lovely novel - though I rather suspect I’ll be reading it again at some time in the future. Definitely one for the bookcase! I loved it.

This is a lovely book about a woman who recovers from a painful affair with a married man with the help of a troubled teenage girl and a lonely elderly man.It's about the power of music to heal and the importance of friendship to make life better.
The main character makes stringed instruments and it was fascinating to learn about the process.
I really enjoyed the book and read it very quickly .It would be a good holiday read.By the end I was cheering Grace and her friends ,and was delighted with the way things turned outI.t's a real feel good read that will,leave you smiling.

Absolutely loved this book. A story of doomed romance, but so much more. The author words describing Grace's violin shop were so descriptive I felt I was there. The explanations of violin making were captivating, as were her references to music. The author had really done her homework.
The friendship that blossomed between the three characters as the story developed was very pleasing.
This book is different to Eleanor Oliphant in many ways but it gives the reader the same kind of satisfaction.

My thanks to Net Galley and Simon and Schuster for giving me the opportunity to read The Truths and Triumphs of Grace Atherton.
After a life-changing incident in her youth, Grace shuts herself away with her cello, to practice constantly, convinced she is capable of finding the sweet-spot of sound she knows the cello can achieve. In her adult life, she is a solitary woman with few friends, but after a chance meeting at a party, begins a relationship with David who becomes the love of her life. Unfortunately, David is married, although has an arrangement with his wife that even though they agree their marriage is over they will remain friends for the sake of their children. Grace's story shows just how easy it is to be bowled over by someone who is a pathological liar and who believes his own lies. Grace comes across as a lovely caring person, but rather naive, and willing to take things on face value David flits in and out of her life like a moth, only inviting her to Paris when the time is right for him. She clearly adores him and believes that one day they will be together. But things with David are not as he would have her believe. The characters in this amazing story are so well drawn I could see them. Nadia and Maurice Williams are a complete joy, and the ending is extremely satisfying. I couldn't put this one down.

Unfortunately this book just was not for me. I was looking forward to something similar to 'a man named Ove' or "eleanor oliphant' but this was nothing like either of these. I'm not sure if I thought it would be because of a description, or something I read and got it wrong but it was definitely an incorrect impression! The book focuses on the life of Grace Atherton, which could be really interesting - however, so much of the book is given to descriptions of cellos that I soon became extremely bored. For anyone who is interested in Cellos, they would probably enjoy it - but I am not, and I feel like I have read a general knowledge about cellos book instead - I have certainly learned about cellos, or violincellos to give them their proper name, but I didn't particularly want to!

Than you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to download this book. What a wonderful read, I was hooked from the first page. Anstey Harris tells a story that we can all belive is true, its about love, betrayal and true friendship. I was engrossed and moved by the writing in this book, even when reading brutal passages about Grace's life, the writing was calm, beautiful and uplifting. To be rescued from your way of life by an old man and a young girl and thrown back into living life to the full was a heartwarming read. I also learned a lot about string instruments but in an interesting informative fashion. i would recommend this book wholeheartedly.

The publisher’s comparison to Eleanor Oliphant is unfortunate, for although Grace is damaged in her own way, she’s not so socially out there as Eleanor. Eleanor is uniquely Eleanor, and I felt it did a disservice to her and to Grace to compare the two.

A novel I will reread, for I read it too fast to follow the plot. I didn’t like the few long descriptions about the technical aspects of music, but warmed to Grace and her life as a loner with a passion for music. Her descriptions of the love she and David share are sweet but poignant, for the reader can see all the compromises she makes as the mistress to a married man. How she eventually finds herself makes for an enjoyable read.