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A review by jesikasbookshelf
Grace's Table by Sally Piper
4.0
"Families were like sand dunes, Grace decided. They shifted shape and position with even the gentlest of forces. Even a tiny puff - a shrug - could bring about change, move a handful of thoughts to a new understanding, a new authority. A gale, like today's, and whol dunes - lives and futures - were relocated, reimagined.
So much resentment had percolated undetected in this family for so many years. Each of them had failed to recognise the other's hurt, everyone had believed their suffering was more worthy. So what should they do about these feelings, now that they were out?"
Families are a complex thing, no two are the same and no experience of being in them is the same. I am often strongly reminded of how much my world view is rooted in the livees of the people I go through this world with. And, though we are all often quick to deny it, this is a fundamental fact of all our lives - we are built on the foundations of those before us and those around us. One conversation can change the way you have seen someone you love for decades.
Grace is having her family found for dinner on the occasion of her 70th birthday. My heart broke for her that this was a rarity, which I personally cannot imagine. Over the course of the novel you are pulled into the way Grace sees her family and herself through the lens of their shared past. Her account of them is searingly honest to the point that you fully believeshe is 'right'. But can anyone ever hold the full truth about a complex family? No, not really - we all see each other so differently, remember seminal events differently and it affects how we view ourselves, our unit and the world around us.
Sally Piper explores this with a simple and meaningful narrative looking into the lives of the Baker family. She makes your heart fill with fondness, makes you cry and leaves you needing to hug your Gran in this beautifully written book.
So much resentment had percolated undetected in this family for so many years. Each of them had failed to recognise the other's hurt, everyone had believed their suffering was more worthy. So what should they do about these feelings, now that they were out?"
Families are a complex thing, no two are the same and no experience of being in them is the same. I am often strongly reminded of how much my world view is rooted in the livees of the people I go through this world with. And, though we are all often quick to deny it, this is a fundamental fact of all our lives - we are built on the foundations of those before us and those around us. One conversation can change the way you have seen someone you love for decades.
Grace is having her family found for dinner on the occasion of her 70th birthday. My heart broke for her that this was a rarity, which I personally cannot imagine. Over the course of the novel you are pulled into the way Grace sees her family and herself through the lens of their shared past. Her account of them is searingly honest to the point that you fully believeshe is 'right'. But can anyone ever hold the full truth about a complex family? No, not really - we all see each other so differently, remember seminal events differently and it affects how we view ourselves, our unit and the world around us.
Sally Piper explores this with a simple and meaningful narrative looking into the lives of the Baker family. She makes your heart fill with fondness, makes you cry and leaves you needing to hug your Gran in this beautifully written book.