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A review by amothersmusings1
Grace of the Empire State by Gemma Tizzard
5.0
Set in New York 1930, “Grace of the Empire State” is written by Gemma Tizzard and as a debut novel, this book is phenomenal. As someone who has an intense fear of heights, this book did nothing to calm my nerves, though it did prove just how well the author described the death defying scenes, many floors up during the building of the Empire Sate Building.
Since it was all men who worked tirelessly on the real life construction, the author wanted to write a story that incorporated a woman in an imaginative and creative way. She was certainly successful in doing that, creating a young show dancer who was not only a dedicated family member, prepared to do anything to save her poorly younger sister but a fearlessly brave and likeable character.
I hadn’t heard of ‘dance marathons’ before and was astonished at what people resorted to during the Great Depression, in the hope to earn money. The rent increases, health bills and lack of jobs meant people would do any work, even if it cost them their lives.
This book is an unbelievable debut novel and I even had to double check that this was the case, so well written and portrayed was the story. Every scene on the building site portrayed the danger of working at such heights, often with no safety net and with a constant fear of falling to one’s death. The attention to detail, from how the wind affected their work, the intricate jobs that needed to be done, to even how the rivets were searing hot before being used, vividly created what must have been horrendously scary work.
Each worker was courageous, tough and looked out for each other and there wasn’t a character throughout that I didn’t endear to. Grace in particular was resilient, showed empathy and genuinely worthy the title of the book.
A ‘riveting’, engrossing and highly engaging novel, written with professionalism, flair and passion. Highly recommended for readers of historical fiction.
#GraceOfTheEmpireState - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️