I enjoyed reading this short young adult novella. Grace lives in a convent with her sister who has Down's Syndrome. They were both abandoned there as infants. She enjoys living there and taking care of sister but all that changes when Dotty dies. Grace is moves in with the other girls attending the boarding school and has a hard time making friends. While in the library Grace discovers an old diary from a girl who stayed in the convent during World War II. Grace has made one friend and together they set out to solve the mystery of what happened during the war. Grace finds that many of the hidden secrets involve finding out about her unknown family. There are lots of twists and turns and many surprises. The book is a quick and easy read and hard to put down. Enjoy

Yesterday I finished Finding Grace, a short historical fiction book I was given the chance to read thanks to NetGalley. It follows Grace, a thirteen-year-old girl living in a Belgian convent in 1975. She was left on the steps as a baby, along with her disabled sister, Dotty. But Dotty recently died, and everything is changing.

Grace is moved to the girls' boarding school dorm. She soon becomes close with Fran, but also has a few run-ins with the stuck up Deirdra. While helping Fran with a history project Grace discovers an old journal kept by one of the nuns at the convent during the war. It tells her horrific story of abandonment, rape and loss.

All the while, the girls are trying to find out more about Grace's past, and avoid the wrath of the horrible Sister Francis. Eventually Grace does get some answers, but they were certainly not the ones she was looking for.

I'm not usually very interested in historical fiction but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Even though it was short, the characters were well developed and the plot was exciting and intriguing. I felt immersed in the setting, and felt empathetic for Grace. I actually felt quite invested in her and her search for knowledge.

There were a few typos and such, but as this is only a review copy I can't be sure whether the final publication will include them. It was a quick, interesting read, a good introduction to historical fiction. 4 stars!

I received an ARC copy from netgalley for my honest review, so thank you netgalley and publishers for sending me a copy =]
Abandoned on the steps of a Belgian convent as a baby, thirteen-year-old Grace has grown up among the nuns. But her days as a caretaker and companion for her older sister, Dotty, have come to a sad end with Dotty's death, and now Grace is living among the girls who attend the convent's boarding school—the very same girls who taunted and bullied her sister for having Down syndrome.
Grace desperately wants to know who left her at the convent; she wants a family and to not feel alone in the world. When Grace finds a three-decades-old diary from the 1940s in the convent library, her interest in the history of the convent is also piqued. Terrible things happened in the little village of Tildonk, Belgium, when the Nazis arrived, and terrible things happened to the mysterious girl who wrote the diary. Unravelling the mystery of the diary ultimately means unravelling the secrets of Grace's life, which are more complicated than she ever imagined.
Based on the author's own experiences at this very convent school, Finding Grace is an emotional look into the lives of girls in the strict world of convents, both in the 1940s and the 1970s, from the author of Silver Birch-shortlisted Jacob's Landing.ing me this book! ♡

The cover and title is what originally drew me to this book.
This is my first book by this author. It was alltogether an easy read. ♡ I give this book a
3.5 star rating!

This book is about two sisters that live in a boarding school with nuns one of the sisters has downs syndrome the other takes care of her. Though its a YA book and is good for them adults love it too! It has a great story line.

Finding Grace is an excellent historical novel, and Daphne Greer an author I am most pleased to find. Thank you Netgalley for widening my world.

Grace is a young girl at a convent school in Belgium from birth until 1975. Daphne Greer based her back story on her own experiences in a French convent school she attended while her father was stationed in Europe. I thoroughly enjoyed this look into another lifetime, another world. Both Dottie and Grace are now friends I can 'visit' at will.

New Mexico is home to many Catholic convents and monasteries, which were a part of our growing up whatever our families religious affiliation. Poor Clare Monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Roswell, New Mexico was the source of great joy for my mother who went to services at the monastery with her father, and listened always to the voices singing praise, instilling in our family the love of music that we hold to still today. Sister Bartola was my first 'friend' outside family and she had my heart early on.

The war years in European convent schools had to be horrific but it is good to know that peace could be found despite the war and it's atrocities. That Greer is able to bring forth empathy for Sister Frances shows the depth of her writing talent. She is an author I will follow. And I am quite pleased to be able to refer her work to friends and family.

I received a free electronic copy of this historical novel from Netgalley, Daphne Greer, and Nimbus Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

A short little novel that packs a big punch. This is the story of 12 year old Grace, a girl in the 1970's who is being raised in a convent after being left on the doorstep as a baby along with her sister Dotty. Dotty has Down's Syndrome and it's always been Grace's job to take care of her - so when Dotty passes away and Grace is moved into the convent's boarding school for girls where she is an outcast because of her sister.
Eventually she does makes friend with a nice girl, Fran, and when they are in the library researching a family tree project (which Grace is deeply ashamed of, since she doesn't know anything about her family) the two find an old diary written by a 15 year old girl who lived there through World War 2. As the friends start reading the diary and digging into Grace's past, deep, dark and terrible secrets start coming to light.
The book was a quick, satisfying read with a twist ending I never saw coming. It did however, give me terrible flashbacks to my Catholic childhood and the mean, mean nuns!

Finding Grace opens with 13-year old Grace and her 28-year old sister Dotty talking in their beds at a Belgian boarding school. Dotty, who has Down’s Syndrome, is having difficulty sleeping, so Grace soothes her sister with butterfly kisses. As she closes her eyes, Dotty says with a smile, “Be back soon.”

When Grace awakens, she realizes that it was all a dream. Dotty is dead. Now, Grace must learn who she is and how to live without her loved one by her side.

Through pain and disillusionment to healing and acceptance, Grace embarks on an emotional journey. With the turn of each page, she takes another step. And by the end of the book, after overcoming adversities, making new friends, and finding lost family, Grace has discovered herself.

Finding Grace is a pleasurable, yet poignant story of connection and self-actualization. Although geared toward teenagers and young adults, I would highly recommend this book to anyone of any age who enjoys World War II history, coming-of-age stories, or family history.

***

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Nimbus Publishing through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

This book is geared towards YA or preteens. I did enjoyed reading this novel but I had difficulty probably due to the style of writing. I don't know what it is. I just can't put my finger to it.
Anyways, this is a story of a young teen who spent 15 years of her life growing up in a convent with her sister who had Down Syndrome. It details of her dealing with loss of her sister, grief, drama among her peers and nun. If you enjoy some mystery, convent, drama, dormatory, diary, and WWII then you'll enjoy this story.
I give this novel a 3 1/2 stars

I recieved this ARC from Nimbus Publishing through Net Galley in exchange for my unbiased and honest review. Thank you!

I loved this book. I read it straight through today. It had all my favorite things - mystery, drama, boarding school, history, etc. I loved Grace and Fran and their face-off with Deirdra. I loved the convent and the backstory with the nuns and the mystery of Grace's origin and her family and how she arrived at the convent. And I even loved the tie-in with WWII and the Nazis. This was really well-done.

A good book - it is for YA yet I'm a true believer that YA books can integrate into adult books. An interesting story. An ’unputdownable’ book.
Very emotional. Get the tissues.
Thank you to both NetGalley and Nimbus Publishing for my eARC in exchange for my honest opinion and unbiased review

This was an interesting book about a girl who has lived her entire life in a convent/boarding school with her older sister (older by 15 years) who has Down's Syndrome. Grace and Dottie are together all the time and are separated from the girls who attend boarding school at the convent. They seem happy although the only thing Grace knows about herself is that she and Dottie were left at the doors of the convent when she was a baby. Dottie has a weak heart and eventually passes away. Grace is left alone to mourn and then she is put in the boarding school with girls her own age. She has a hard time fitting in and making friends. She makes one friend, Fran who is nice and helpful to her. They find a diary from the 1940's tucked into a book in the library and Grace starts to read it uncovering the story of an unwed pregnant girl who is sent to the convent because she is a disgrace to her family. As the story is slowly told, secrets come out and I was surprised at how the details of Dottie and Grace's births unfolded because I did not suspect the ending at all. A captivating read once I got into it. Definitely a good book for young girls ages 12-up. Interesting story. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!