Member Reviews
Karren S, Reviewer
Grace O’Connell always felt happy and safe until her father died, now America’s in the midst of the Great Depression and her twin brother Patrick works at the construction site of the Empire State Building and Grace is a dancer and they support their widowed mother and younger sister.
Even with both siblings working money is tight, and when Grace is laid off and Patrick is injured on the job, she has no choice but to take his place on the team and it’s made up of four men and Grace disguises herself as a man and her brother.
Grace’s first day as a “catcher” is daunting and she’s working eighteen floors up, with the support of the Seamus and the Gagliardi brothers Frank and Joe she gets through it. Grace aches all over, but as the weeks pass she gets stronger and her team members are pleased she's pulling her weight and they still worry about her identity being discovered. One side of the job she wasn’t prepared for was how dangerous it is, accidents happen and a slight error or a being in the wrong place at the wrong time and you could be injured or killed and she witnesses this firsthand.
I received a copy of Grace of the Empire State from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review and it’s the author’s debut novel.
The narrative is set in New York during the Great Depression, a time of long lines of desperate men trying to find jobs, hungry children and families struggling to pay their rent and not ending up being tossed onto the street and homeless.
I really liked the characters, especially Grace, Mary and Connie, the Gagliardi brothers, Seamus and Patrick, Bruno and Florence and the way everyone banded together and helped one and another and the overall theme of the story and the importance of family and sticking together, sacrifice and friendship, helping others and those in need, hope and affinity.
Gemma Tizzard has written an inspiring historical fiction story, a great way to start her writing career and four and a half stars from me.
