Tag Archives: Finding Grace

Book Review: Finding Grace

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Laura H. Pearl’s first novel, Finding Grace, was a pure delight to read. The story is absorbing on so many levels.

The main character, Grace, is thirteen at the beginning of the book, but her story spans the years of 1972-1980 as she becomes a young woman in a world fraught with challenges. She strives to live as a good Catholic so that she may one day become a saint; but goodness doesn’t come easily, and as she struggles to live her faith, she encounters life in all its many facets of good and evil, joy and disappointments. Add to this the pain of falling deeply in love with a young man who sees her only as a friend, and I had to keep turning pages, staying up late, to find out how everything turns out.

The characters are fully developed, easy to relate to, and real. Grace’s relationships with her parents, her many brothers, and her friends, are genuine. Readers will become invested in Grace’s fate, and yearn for her to win her true love in the end. While this book is a wonderful coming-of-age story for teens, it is also great for adults looking for a romantic story that is deep and meaningful. Not a shallow romance, Finding Grace has all the hallmarks readers could want: romance, conflict, humor, life, love, laughter, and tears.

Parents can feel confident in buying this for their teens. Finding Grace is a moral read, without being bland or boring. The importance of family and faith is highlighted. Yes, there are lessons to be learned, but readers will be highly entertained along the way.

I laughed out loud. I shared in the heartaches as Grace learned who she is, and who she can be, with the grace of God. I really do miss the characters and I’m sad to be done with the novel, even though it has a beautiful ending! This is a book that I will definitely recommend to my own daughter someday.

Finding Grace is available in paperback and as a Kindle ebook.

A New YA Novel: “Finding Grace”

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CatholicFiction.com is pleased to spread the word about Finding Grace, a new Catholic novel for teen readers.

Learn more about Finding Grace, the themes, synopsis, and inspiration behind the novel by reading the author’s own words below.


Catholic author Laura Pearl writes:

I am a Catholic author who has just had my first novel (aimed at young adult readers) released in August by Bezalel Books, a Catholic publishing house. My book is called “Finding Grace,” and it is is set in a small town in the 1970′s. It is filled with Catholic characters and is a pro-family, pro-chastity, pro-life, coming of age love story. It promotes Catholic themes throughout, but with compassion and humor and without being too preachy.

Here is a short synopsis, which appears on the back cover of the book: At the age of thirteen, Grace Kelly (who has been saddled with the name of a world-renowned beauty, but is far from one herself) is inspired by an offhand comment from her father to become a saint. But coming of age and falling deeply in love for the first time in the early 1970′s–in the wake of the 60′s “sexual revolution” and the historic Roe v. Wade decision–presents true challenges for young people who are trying to live chastely. Grace realizes that without the help of God, the Blessed Mother, and all the saints in Heaven, navigating the thorny path to sainthood would be an almost insurmountable task.

I decided to write “Finding Grace” with my future grandchildren in mind (and then my first two–identical twin girls–were born while I was still in the process of writing it!), worried about the kind of books that will be targeted at them by the time they become teenage readers. I wanted to write something that would combat the damaging secular messages that bombard our young people daily–in books, on T.V., in movies, and even in school.

My book is available on Amazon.com in both paperback and Kindle form.

Thank you, Laura Pearl, for taking the time to write us about your novel. It sounds like a great idea for a Christmas gift!