Amazing Grace Adams

Fran Littlewood

Unfolding across a single hot summer’s day in North London, Amazing Grace Adams takes readers on a rollercoaster ride of female rage, loss and resilience.

Grace is a former burgeoning TV star whose world was turned upside down when a fling resulted in a pregnancy and shotgun marriage. We meet her en route to her daughter Lotte’s 16th birthday party with a bespoke Love Island cake, hoping to repair their damaged relationship.

But she is banned from the party by her estranged husband.

Afterwards, stuck in a traffic jam, Grace decides to abandon her car and she embarks on a liberating journey of destruction.

Through flashbacks, we discover her story of bereavement, conflicted motherhood, exploitation and lost opportunities. We learn why she and Lotte are no longer speaking and why her daughter moved out of the family home. Then we are hit with another terrible tragedy that forced the family apart.

This may sound depressing, and indeed the account of the devastating grief Grace and her daughter Lotte suffer can feel overwhelming.

But this is a rip-roaring, empowering story of redemption, discovery and starting over. And the more emotional moments are peppered with so much humour, you find yourself laughing and crying at the same sentence.

Amazing Grace Adams is a glorious tragicomedy. The characters are wonderfully drawn and you’ll applaud Grace for her amazing fortitude, compassion and warmth.

Littlewood flips the stereotypes of menopause and middle age into something women can aspire to.