Saving Grace

Saving Grace by Jane Green is a brilliant and powerful book that will keep the reader on the edge of their seat. Green's characters are well thought out and she brings the reader into the story effortlessly. I would not hesitate to recommend Saving Grace.

I was somewhat disappointed by Saving Grace and I'm not exactly sure why. I think because its plot synopsis reminded me somewhat of a Liane Moriarty book and by the end of Green's novel, I felt that Moriarty had done it much better.

Saving Grace tells the story of Grace and Ted Chapman. Ted is a famous and beloved author, though one in the bit of a decline, and Grace his faithful wife, well-known mostly for her style and grace (haha). To an outsider, the Chapmans look to be the perfect couple, but we learn that Ted is quick to rage and Grace continually finds herself walking on eggshells around her husband.

The one person who seems able to calm these rages is his assistant, Ellen. When she leaves to care for her ailing mother, Grace finds herself in despair. She feels as if her life is falling apart, trying to care for her house and Ted's needs. (At this point, I find myself a little frustrated and flabbergasted. Seriously? Join the real world, lady.) However, she feels like her prayers have been answered when her daughter, Clemmie, introduces her to Beth. Beth becomes Ted's assistant and also Grace's helpmate. But Grace quickly feels as if Beth is taking over -- not just as Ted's assistant, but over Grace's life. We're left to wonder, is Grace crazy? Or Beth?

The story itself is sort of a compelling one -- assistant moves in and takes over perfect wife's life. It sounds quite exciting (Lifetime movie, anyone?. However, Grace is not that compelling of a character, and her whiny ways did not garner a ton of sympathy with me, even if Beth was a horrible person. Her husband was clearly an ass, but we really didn't get to learn much about his character, either. Or, really, even Beth's. There's also a lot of far-fetched plot points - yes, Ted is under Beth's spell, but would he really believe some of the tales she weaves about his wife? It's all just very strange.

All in all, I read the book fairly quickly, interested to see what would happen to Grace, mostly for the sake of finding out. However, in the end, I just felt Green could have done so much more with the story, and with Grace's character.

A good enough tale, but rather painfully obvious. I read about half, skipped to the end, then ditched it. If you want reassurance that you do/don't have a mental illness, and that American doctors will gaily diagnose in order to prescribe, carry on...

4.5 stars.

Saving Grace by Jane Green is a thoroughly compelling novel that touches on a few relevant social issues. While not exactly a mystery, there are definitely suspense elements to storyline. Overall, I found it to be an intriguing psychological drama that is poignant and thought-provoking.

Grace and Ted Chapman have been married for twenty-five years and from the outside, their life looks perfect. Ted is a long time best-selling author while Grace is a successful chef and board member of a charity. However, behind closed doors, Grace walks on eggshells around her volatile and egotistical husband. When Ted's personal assistant resigns, Grace finds it impossible to juggle the household chores with her career and the full-time job of placating her demanding husband. Needing a new assistant as soon as possible, Grace hurriedly hires Beth for the position and the Chapman household is running smoother than ever. Although Beth is soon indispensable to both Grace and Ted, something about Beth feels a little off to Grace. But before she can figure out what is bothering her about Beth, Grace's life begins to spiral out of control.

At first, Grace is an exasperating and somewhat unsympathetic heroine. She is a bit of a doormat and the way she lets Ted treat her is very frustrating. Her kneejerk reaction to his mood swings has its roots in her childhood and she has never broken out of this dysfunctional pattern. While it seems implausible that she would grant Beth such easy access into every facet of their lives, Grace is so unorganized and overwhelmed that it is easy to believe she would be so trusting. And when Grace's worst fears seem to be coming true, her insecurities and unresolved issues cause her to doubt herself and her instincts.

Ted is a completely unlikable character and despite Grace's efforts to justify his behavior, there really is no excuse for how he treats everyone around him. He is very egocentric and this makes him an easy target for manipulation. Ted thoroughly falls under Beth's spell, and he blindly follows wherever she leads him.

Beth's plan is insidious and she exploits every weakness she can. It is unclear exactly what she hopes to gain for much of the story, but she seamlessly works her way into Grace's life and then slowly and methodically undermines her self confidence. Once Grace is at her weakest, Beth plants seeds of doubt that quickly take root, leaving Grace vulnerable and at the mercy of the medical profession.

Saving Grace is written mostly in first person from Grace's point of view. Her past is revealed through flashbacks and the shifts from past to present are easy to follow. The situation with Beth eventually makes Grace a somewhat unreliable narrator but this is an effective means of conveying her confusion and increasing desperation. There is also a bit of contradiction in her recounting of events yet this also lends credibility to her worsening mental state.

While Saving Grace is a little bit of a slow starter, it does not take long to become fully invested in the unfolding story. Grace turns into a likable character that is easy to root for and she does emerge from her ordeal a much stronger person. Jane Green does an excellent job portraying the very real danger of how easy it is to misdiagnose and overmedicate patients. All in all, it is a very fascinating story that has a realistic and mostly satisfying conclusion.

2.5 stars (Note: rating listed on site may differ depending on whether the site allows half star ratings)Normally I save ratings below 3 stars for books that are so horrible that I don't finish them, but I couldn't in good conscious give this book a 3 star rating. I do have to say that some of the inconsistencies noted in the questions (number of children etc.) were not ones I noticed while reading, but there were others I did wonder about. (I do think this is the first book by this author that I've read.)WARNING: Spoilers may be included in remainder of review. Read on at your own discretion*****Grace's mother probably had a mental illness--or perhaps more than one. Since she's dead and all we have are Grace's recollections, we can only speculate. It also allows the author to get in the info. that English people don't run to the doctor like we do here in the US. I have no idea if that's true. I don't know if that was just Grace's perception based on her mother not wanting to go to the doctor . . . I do know that it is common for bipolar sufferers to take medication and then feel better and think they no longer need the medication, so they stop taking it and eventually spiral back into the disease. I've also heard several descriptions that the medications made the takers feel "dead" or stifles creativity.I'm surprised that Grace doesn't recognize Ted's abuse. She suffered it growing up and she works with abused women rehabbing at Hartwood House--yet she seems to have no clue. Ellen, who's supposedly been with them for years, also seems to have no clue how Ted treats Grace? I'm having trouble buying that. If she's been with them for that long, there must have been some points where one or the other slipped up--enough times for Ellen to have noticed it and remark on it--or at least wonder. I can understand Grace worrying she'll end up like her mom. I can also understand her reluctance to talk about it and her worrying that if people know, they will treat her differently. I spent the first part of the book thinking Grace needs to grow a backbone and stand up to her husband rather than just deny it happens or try to avoid the conflict. Ellen and Sybil are both able to "manage" him which suggests it can be done, that he can be reasonable. Actually, I spent the first part of the book wondering if Ted was the one who needed medication. I did like that Grace felt serious about the vows of her marriage--but when abuse comes into play, it is time to walk out. Sometimes the relationship can still be saved if the abuser is willing to change and if both are willing to take the time to make sure the change is real and true. I think that might have been the case for Ted based on the ending of the book. I don't know if he took Grace for granted or if Grace overreacted to what might be normal marital spats because of her history or if he was just self-absorbed enough to not realize what he was doing to her. Even after she's forced to leave him, Grace still seems to want him back as her husband--I think right up until the time she tries to talk to him at the coffeeshop and he refuses to see Beth's true motives.I like that Grace had true friends--Sybil and Lydia. I like that Clemmie and her mother had a good relationship.I can understand how Beth wormed her way into their lives. She does have a good con. Come in, make yourself useful and eventually indispensable to the family, learn their weak spots and exploit them, make yourself over into the image of the wife--but a younger version who "understands" all the while planting hints about problems the wife has so that eventually the wife is discredited and Beth steps in to become the woman of the house--at least until all the money and fame is gone. Apparently Beth doesn't learn that fame and fortune are fleeting, especially if you spend indiscriminately--but then again, I guess she always figures there's a new mark out there somewhere that she can start over again.I'm not sure what to think about Dr. Ellery--I'd like to think he was really trying to help Beth and was just led down the wrong path by Ted and by Beth and by Grace's family history. I don't mind so much that he put Grace on medication--I do think Grace suffers from depression at least--but he didn't seem to do many tests to find out what her hormone levels were or suggest she see a regular physician, and he did seem to ignore her complaints about the medications he did prescribe--being so exhausted she can't get out of bed (I could see this short term, but it seemed to go on much longer than a side effect should and I feel he should have changed the dosage of the medication or changed her medications instead of just prescribing other ones to try to offset the side effects), being ravenously hungry to the point that she gains 40 pounds in a few months (we aren't told much about her body type before but unless she was grossly underweight, I don't think that's a usual weight gain). I'm glad Lydia gets her to a more sensible doctor.I did not like that the author had Beth and Ted having a fling when Ted is married, but it was part of the plot so if that had been the only one, I could probably have accepted it for what it was. But the author also has Grace have an affair with Patrick while in England recovering--even though at this point, Grace is supposedly still planning to go back to her marriage with Ted once he recognizes what Beth is. Clemmie and Luke also live together without being married. I think Patrick and Grace live together when she returns to England after deciding that Ted is no longer what she wants out of life. I can't totally fault Grace for divorcing Ted--he was abusive, and though he seems to have changed, we don't see enough of that after Beth leaves him to know if it was true change or not--he also had an affair with Beth then tried to paint his wife as a lying, hallucinating, abusive woman when she discovered them together--he also refused to believe that Beth could do any wrong when Grace tried to tell him at the coffeeshop. (I also wondered why Grace didn't tell him that his publisher and long-time editor had both tried to tell him the book needed more work when both had told her this but apparently Beth had withheld the news from him and told him all was well with the book. It would have been another piece of evidence to give him--though I doubt he would have heard it at the time.)I'm not clear on whether Beth used the bad book as a deliberate exit strategy or if she truly didn't know any better. I thought the author got the publishing world being in a downward spiral right. Though many formerly successful authors are still allowed to publish books that I don't consider very good just because their name on the cover sells books. Was Beth so blinded by Ted's past success that she truly didn't know the book he'd written was bad? Was she so smitten with him that she thought anything he did was brilliant? Did she think his readers would buy it because his name was on the cover and not care about the contents? Did she think the bad book would further alienate him from those he knew in the publishing world, leaving him more dependent on her than he currently was? Or did she know the money was drying up and figure it was a good way to get out while the getting was good? This last is disputed because it seems Grace has to point out to Beth the ways of the publishing world--that likely there wouldn't be any more contracts or advances and if there were, the amounts would be piddly. I'm not sure about royalties but those might be piddly by that point too.

I started and stopped this book a few times, not because of the book but because I was listening to it and my car CD player died. That said, I now have a new car so I'm on the road again in more ways than one. Jane Green is one of my favorite authors and did not disappoint me with Saving Grace. Grace's story flows smoothly and is one of self empowerment. This book is literally about saving Grace....

Another great book by Jane Green. This time Grace is married to Ted Chapman, a famous author. Their assistant leaves to take care of her mother so they search for a new assistant who can keep Ted organized and also help Grace. In comes Beth, who their daughter happens to meet at a dinner. Beth seems like the dream assistant and she soon is doing everything for Grace and Ted that they wonder what they ever did without her.

Grace is loved by everyone she is involved with. She does a lot of work for a women’s shelter yet she also walks on egg shells around Ted as he has horrible mood swings. Also, she worries she will be like her mother who was manic depressive. Soon Grace’s world starts to fall apart and she has to decide if she is crazy or not.

I really enjoyed this book. It starts out nice and smooth as you get to know the characters and Beth eases into their lives. Then it starts to speed up a little bit as things start to happen to Grace. Is she forgetting things? Is she going crazy? Is she like her mother? Soon her world falls apart.

I really enjoyed how Jane throws in a few flashbacks to explain relationships. I really liked the characters of Grace, Patrick, Sybil and Lydia. I really wanted to bash Ted on the head. If he was my husband he would be out the door in seconds. I also don’t know if I would give a stranger, even if they are an assistant, access to my financials. Especially without a background check. Very well worth the read.

unexpectedly better than expected. Simple characters but a good story nevertheless.

Bit of a sad book. Wife marries famous (now former famous) author and they end up having hiring asst who manipulates and then takes over while wife is going thru menopause but is being told by manipulative psychiatrist that she is also bipolar like her dead mother. Feel Jane should have made her character less easily led but do like that she ended up happy with a new man in the end.

I have to say that I never read the very first Jane Green books. I have always heard nothing but good about this writer. I did not used to read anything other than thrillers, law related books and horror. I decided to branch out due to a health concern and my desire to continue to read. I read this book, which in theory has a good story line, and when I was done, wondered what I had missed. I liked the idea of someone trying to take over another's life, but this was not believable, or the characters were not believable, or the husband was not involved enough, or something. It was lacking. If you love Jane Green like most people seem to, maybe skip this one. And I feel awful for writing this. I love to give glowing reviews.

It is to Jane Green's credit that a predictable outcome didn't deter from this novel's appeal. Ken is a renown, spoiled, volatile author whose literary star has begun to fade. His wife, Grace, has endured a difficult childhood with a mentally unstable mother and struggles to keep up with her obligations. Grace is thrilled to find an ostensibly ideal candidate, Beth, to be Ken's assistant and to help Grace and to keep the household organized. Grace's mental stability begins slowly to unravel at the same time that Beth gains control of Ken's attention and affection, while she undermines Grace's influence and credibility both at home and in the community. Although this book is very easily read, I did find there were moments when I had to suspend disbelief. This book also contains gourmet recipes at the end of almost every chapter, which some readers may find intriguing.

First book read of the year, may they all be this great this year! I devoured jane green's newest book after receiving it in the mail after preordering it. I couldn't put it down. I felt such injustice along with Grace as her life spiraled out of control. She went from being what she thought was a happily married woman (although I always did think Ted was an ass) to a world famous author and living a life she loved to losing everything, husband, job, health, respect and all credibility. She wasn't able to stop any of it as her life was manipulated very cleverly by Beth and everyone she knew saw her, not as she had always been but as whom Beth had painted her to be. After being diagnosed as bipolar, her life becomes the nightmare she dreaded since childhood. When it all climaxes that night she finds Beth and Ted, no one believes her about anything and she runs from the hospital that wants to commit her, she runs to the safety of her second mother in England and slowly begins to heal. While in England, after being homeless, moneyless, phoneless for a night, she reunites with her second family, the one that was her salvation after a terrible childhood. Soon Patrick her "brother" isn't seen as her brother in her eyes yet she is determined to get her life back, expose Beth and reunite with Ted, At which point I wanted to slap her. The happy marriage she imagine was shadowed by her tiptoeing around her husbands angry rages and childish ways. Add that to his lack of faith and disdain for her and then the whole Beth debacle, why would she want to go back to that? And he is still on team Beth. I did feel a lot of satisfaction with how it ended, Ted being a stubborn blinded idiot to the end. It ended as it should have. This book was a little different for Jane Green, still a fantastic well written read with a little bit of the mystery and intrigue thrown in. I am never disappointed with one of her books, this one included, a winner.

I have to be honest here...i got right into the book but about 1/3 of the way into it i almost quit. Ohhh nooo....Upper class husband-author... and wife-chef...add a new female assistant and i predicted inevitable cheating. HOWEVER. I did keep turning those pages and am glad i did!In the process of Grace saving herself from totally unravelling, she discovers that the woman she took under her wing is actually a serial seducer and con artist. All the way along her recovery and independence her one hope is to get her old life back. Does she? Can she? You'll be pulling for her when she finally takes off the blinders and makes her decision.

Annoying book. Do not like stupid people in life but in fiction it is a bit hard to tolerate. So many people conned really.

In Jane Green's Saving Grace, Grace is married to Ted, a successful author described as a "thinking man's Grisham". They have been married for over 20 years and have a lovely adult daughter Clemmie, who works as a reporter at a small newspaper.Grace began her career as an assistant cookbook editor, where she met the dashing and older Ted and fell immediately in love. Now she volunteers her time as a chef at a home for abused women and addicted women and children. She and Ted are well respected in their community, and envied by many in literary circles.She loves her life, except for the rages that Ted flies into, screaming at her and throwing things. These rages are unpredictable and understandably cause Grace physical and emotional problems.When their longtime assistant Ellen decides to move away to care for her sister, Grace has to find someone who can work for Ted and help run the household. Into their lives walks Beth, a thirty-something rather nondescript woman who is looking for a job.Grace likes Beth right away. Beth is organized whereas Grace is not, and soon she becomes indispensable to both Ted and Grace. She even calls her a cross between Mary Poppins and Mrs. Doubtfire. But something is just not right.After a big fundraiser that Grace has planned is a disaster, things go downhill for Grace. She becomes depressed and refuses to leave her room. Ted and Beth suggest she a psychiatrist, and he diagnoses Grace with bipolar disorder and puts her on a cocktail of several medications.The overmedication destroys Grace and she completely withdraws. Yet through the fog of this, she begins to realize that something is not right with Beth. It seems like Beth is taking over her life- dressing in her clothes, taking her job at the home for abused women, and getting very close to Ted.Grace runs away back to her home in England to sort things out and try to understand what is happening to her. Can she stop Beth before it is too late?I had the chance to participate in a Facebook conversation with Jane Green through Reading With Robin's Book Club 411, and we got to hear the story that inspired the book. Green said that she had gone through a similar thing as Grace, being misdiagnosed by a doctor and given too many medications that didn't help, but instead, hurt her.This kind of thing happens way too often, especially in the US who, as is stated in the novel, has 5% of the population but writes 95% of the prescriptions for psychotropic drugs. Clearly there is a problem here, and often menopausal women are erroneously prescribed these dangerous medications to ease their symptoms.Green also had a situation where her family hired a bookkeeper who ended up stealing a great deal of money from them. Like Grace, she didn't thoroughly check references and paid a dear price.It has been said that Saving Grace is very different from Green's other novels, which I can't attest to as this is the first novel of hers I have read. I like that Green's own personal experiences influenced this novel, it definitely comes through in the story. It feels very real and urgent, and many women will feel an affinity for what Grace is going through.Since Grace is a chef, there are many recipes sprinkled throughout the book, and many of them look like ones I would like to try. I also liked the inside look at the publishing industry, what a successful author like Ted deals with in terms of how he writes, his relationship with his editor and publisher, and what happens when success begins to fade.Saving Grace is a little heavier than most books in this genre, and the personal connection the author has with her protagonist gives it more depth and meaning. It is a cautionary tale for those who don't follow their own instincts when it comes to their medical care or the people in their life.

I unfortunately didn't love this and the main reason was from the very beginning it was too obvious what was going to happen. Although I liked it enough to finish it, I thought it lacked any real depth.

Another terrific book by Jane Green! Thank goodness she is prolific---can hardly wait for her next one!

Synopsis: Grace and Ted, a successful couple, are targeted by a woman, Beth, who is hired as their assistant and who then takes over Grace's life, nearly destroying Grace in the process. She recovers, discovers Beth's nefarious actions, and ultimately leaves her stupid and abusive husband to live with her English boyfriend happily ever after. Also includes some odious-sounding recipes. Typical chick-lit book.

On the surface, Grace and Ted appear to have it all: The family, the money, a beautiful house in an upscale suburb. But when their longtime personal assistant leaves to take care of her mother, Grace becomes overwhelmed with running the household and filling in as Ted’s assistant. It seems like Ted is always in a bad mood and he blames everything on Grace, rather than his own declining career.When they meet Beth, a young woman who is looking for a job as a home organizer and assistant, Grace jumps at the opportunity to hire her. Her performance is nothing less than spectacular, but Beth is too good to be true – in more ways than one. Soon Grace’s perfect world begins to fall apart when a charity event she planned turns into a disaster making her the talk of the town – and not in a good way. She fears she is going crazy as she begins to experience fuzzy memories and mood swings and begins to withdraw from everyone.While this is a fast, easy read, the author doesn’t hesitate to take on a few heavy subjects: Mental illness, the dangers of prescription drugs, and marital problems. Grace’s fears of inheriting her mother’s bipolar disorder leads her to consult a psychiatrist who over-prescribes potent medications causing Jane to emotionally lose control. The suspense builds as Grace tries to save herself and her sanity.While I would occasionally get annoyed with Grace and felt she was being more than a bit naive, it didn’t detract from a convincing story with mostly realistic, though sometimes flawed, characters.

Very interesting book. It's almost one of those "woman in danger" thrillers. I say almost because those elements are there, but it is so much more. Grace, our woman-in-danger, sees her tormentor and wins that battle, but not is the standard thriller manner. She has secrets that impact her life. She has friends that she doesn't realize she has. She discovers how her doctor is willing to over drug her instead of finding out what her real problem is. She finds she is strong enough to recover and discover the self she put on the back shelf to keep a status she really didn't want.

Grace Chapman, a naïve and young British transplant, married a literary powerhouse. Ted Chapman was seen as a literary great but was also considered temperamental and quixotic. Over the years Grace has learned to cope with Ted's mood swings, but she's always had the help of Ted's assistant. After over twenty years of marriage, Grace is no longer as shy and timid as she once was. She is now a woman others look up to, a stylish woman with a powerhouse publishing career of her own in the food arts. Unfortunately life with Ted is not as wholesome and easy as it used to be. Grace is unable to cope with the myriad responsibilities of managing her and Ted's careers as well as their home. Just when things are looking bleak in comes Beth; a woman that loves to organize and manage households. She is just what they were looking for...or is she?Saving Grace was a fast-paced and somewhat emotional read that incorporates mental illness, medical malpractice, emotional abuse, marital infidelity and more. Grace goes from leading a picturesque and charmed life to one filled with despair and torment. At the center of Grace's downward spiral is the oh-so-helpful Beth. What starts out as Grace being a little overwhelmed with taking care of her verbally abusive husband, a hectic career, and dealing with the hormonal ups-and-downs of perimenopause becomes a misdiagnosis of bipolar disease and drugs, lots and lots of drugs. Grace quickly becomes more than just a little despondent; she becomes depressed, overweight, and totally reclusive. Due to Grace's secret family history she quickly becomes an unwitting pawn in Beth's plans to take charge of the Chapman household and Grace's husband Ted falls in line.Ms. Green does an admirable job in portraying Grace's mother as the quintessential bipolar 1 patient (extreme highs and lows with a tendency towards self-medication with alcohol or drugs as well as a refusal to follow proscribed treatment protocols). She also points out the quickness of the American medical professions' willingness to over diagnose normal behaviors as the disease of the decade and then medicate people to the gills. As a reader I saw Grace's behavior as something more than being a little down or sad due to circumstances, it was interesting to see the differences between the British and American healthcare systems in diagnosing and treatment. In the end the point of Saving Grace is that Grace learns that she shouldn't strive for perfection even if it is only superficial perfection and the only person that can save her is herself.There were parts of the story that I found disappointing, such as Grace's apparent misdiagnosis and no further follow through, as well as the story of Beth and her history. I almost feel like the story might have had more punch if Grace had actually been bipolar and the story revealed how she dealt with the diagnosis rather than dealing with the misdiagnosis...but that's just my opinion.

3.5/5 I've been reading Jane Green for a number of years now. I would have classify her earlier works as 'chick lit'. But as the years have passed, Green's protagonists have gotten a little older and she has tackled more serious topics. But one thing has not changed - Green's ability to write a great, entertaining story.Here latest ( #16) book - Saving Grace - releases today from St. Martin's Press.From the outside looking in, Grace and Ted have it all - Ted is a successful novelist, Grace is the ultimate hostess and works with charities, they have a beautiful home and a loving marriage. But, from the inside, the view isn't so great."After almost twenty-five years of marriage the only thing that Grace is ever able to predict is the unpredictability of her husband's moods. He can throw his keys at the wall in a rage, then reappear twenty minutes later with a sunny smile, as if nothing had happened, as if Grace hadn't spent the prior twenty minutes quaking with nerves."When Ted's long time assistant leaves, Grace tries to do even more, but can't keep up. When Beth, a seemingly perfect applicant asks about the position, Grace is more than happy to hire her immediately. She's exactly what they need. But....maybe she's a bit too perfect.....at first it's just little things.....Oh yes, you know what's coming don't you? Yep, that woman wants Grace's life. And the only person who sees it is Grace. Or is she imagining things?Woven within this insidious unraveling of a tale are the very real issues of spousal abuse, mental illness and recovery, a look at pharmaceuticals and a woman's desperate journey to try and reclaim herself and her life. And it wouldn't be a Jane Green book without some romance also interwoven.Saving Grace (cute pun on the title) was a good read for me. I really liked Grace. But just like those scary movies, I found myself mentally shouting " No, she's (Beth) too good to be true!" and "Leave the jerk!" Beth was a deliciously drawn antagonist - and yes, I was shouting at her too. And Ted.Grace also works as a caterer, and many of her recipes are included at the end of chapters. Green herself also loves to cook - her descriptions of food and cooking demonstrate that through the book.Saving Grace was a page turner of a read - full of suspense, yet some real food for thought as well.

I won an advance reader copy of this book from Goodreads. I really wanted to like this book more than I did. But I just felt it didn't have a true focus. It started out about Grace's troubles with her husband, Tom. Then Beth starts working for them and just like that, she is a part of the family and in the process of ruining Grace's life. Next thing you know Grace is diagnosed as bipolar and the story changes direction again. It really seemed that Grace was a much smarter woman when the book first started and as soon as Beth started working for them she changed. And Beth was never fully developed as a character - you didn't know her motivation or background. And she really didn't do much to warrant Grace's complete breakdown. I think this would have been a better book if it was either just about Grace's relationship with Ted and her past or if it had just focused on Beth trying to take Grace's life.