Grace: A Novel

Written by Richard Paul Evans

Narrated by John Dossett

Originally titled Grace, this award-winning novel gets a brand-new look in this beautiful repackage.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Christmas Box and The Mistletoe Promise comes a novel filled with hope and redemption about two teens who turn to each other to find trust and love.

If only I could stay with you forever. I would.

Eric is having a hard time adjusting to his family’s move from California to Utah. Then he meets Grace—his classmate and a runaway—dumpster diving behind the burger joint where he works. Eric decides the only thing to do is to hide Grace in the clubhouse in his backyard.

With the adults concerned about the looming Cuban Missile Crisis and his father recovering from an immune disorder, Eric grows closer to Grace but can their new relationship survive the harsh realities of life?

In this poignant, sensitive, and realistic narrative, Richard Paul Evans shares Grace’s heartbreaking predicament and Eric’s realization that everything is not as simple as it might appear.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Oct 7, 2008
• ISBN: 9780743574846

Richard Paul Evans

Richard Paul Evans is the #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than forty novels. There are currently more than thirty-five million copies of his books in print worldwide, translated into more than twenty-four languages. Richard is the recipient of numerous awards, including two first place Storytelling World Awards, the Romantic Times Best Women’s Novel of the Year Award, and five Religion Communicators Council’s Wilbur Awards. Seven of Richard’s books have been produced as television movies. His first feature film, The Noel Diary, starring Justin Hartley (This Is Us) and acclaimed film director, Charles Shyer (Private Benjamin, Father of the Bride), premiered in 2022. In 2011 Richard began writing Michael Vey, a #1 New York Times bestselling young adult series which has won more than a dozen awards. Richard is the founder of The Christmas Box International, an organization devoted to maintaining emergency children’s shelters and providing services and resources for abused, neglected, or homeless children and young adults. To date, more than 125,000 youths have been helped by the charity. For his humanitarian work, Richard has received the Washington Times Humanitarian of the Century Award and the Volunteers of America National Empathy Award. Richard lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with his wife, Keri, and their five children and two grandchildren. You can learn more about Richard on his website RichardPaulEvans.com.

Reviews for Grace

[Deb Spencer · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is an amazing work! Richard Paul Evans-I can’t get enough of his writings!

[beecharmer_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Eric remembers a boyhood romance that ends in trajedy. He helps a runaway and she becomes his first love. He had to deal with what he felt was his parents betrayal and the guilt he felt over what happens to Grace. This event infulences what profession he chooses in his adult life.

[spibrarian · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Richard Paul Evans always delivers. A story of a young woman, raped by her stepfather, and a good friend - doomed to lose his innocence with the world that he lives in. An excellent book and a tearjerker as usual.

[julyso · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Eric is having a tough time after a recent move, his father not being able to work due to an injury, and just the normal teenage stuff. He works part-time at a burger joint to help out and this is where he meets Grace, while she is digging in a dumpster for food. He is kind and invites her into the restaurant to eat. They talk and Grace tells Eric that she is a runaway. He tells her she can stay in the clubhouse on his parents' property and she accepts. Grace and Eric's lives will never be the same after this Christmas...I truly love books by Richard Paul Evans and this one is no exception. It is a tender story that brought out all my emotions. I felt for Eric and for Grace, both had tough choices to make. The only problem I had with the book was how come neither Eric or Grace told the authorities what had really happened with her step-dad? That part was unbelievable to me, but otherwise a very touching Christmas story.

[missysbooknook · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this coming-of-age story about a boy whose life changes after meeting a runaway girl who can see the future in the flame of a candle. It is a Christmas tale in the sense that it takes place during the Christmas season. However, it is also a sad story, so be prepared with plenty of Kleenex.

[roseysweetpea · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love all of Richard Paul Evans' books and wait for the new one every year. This one actually made me cry at work. I could not put down this touching story. Eric meets and falls in love with Grace by chance saving her from a terrible home life. However, being that they are only children, he can't save her forever and she is eventually forced to return. This heart-renching story shows how one experience can change and shape the rest of our lives and how just one person can make all the difference in the world.

[scoutlee_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Eric’s life changes the moment he sees Grace dumpster diving outside the restaurant where he works. He immediately recognizes her from his Spanish class, however he has never spoken to her. After a brief conversation, Eric feels compassion towards Grace and invites her in for a meal, his treat. Grace discloses she ran away from home and doesn’t have a place to go. Eric invites her to stay in the clubhouse in his backyard and Grace, at first hesitates, but then agrees.So begins a significant relationship in Eric’s life. Grace becomes his first love and this relationship will shape Eric’s life in years to come. Grace is a touching, compelling story about love and loss.

[mzkitty570 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

She was my first kiss, my first love. She was a little match girl who could see the future in the flame of a candle. She was a runaway who taught me more about life than anyone has before or since. And when she was gone my innocence left with her.Richard Paul Evans is a powerful writer. His stories are always a great read and I find that they are too short in length (or maybe I read them too quickly!!) This story is about a boy (Eric) who discovers a young girl from his classroom going through the trash behind the place he works. He offers to take her home and keep her hidden and feed her. In time they become friends and fall in love. What has happened to the girl could have happened to anyone of us or we know of someone like this. This is a very touching story.

[bell7_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

At Christmastime, Eric looks back on a defining moment in his life when he was a young teenage boy growing up in the sixties. His father temporarily paralyzed, Eric and his family move to Utah where he lives in a poor neighborhood, goes to a rough school, and has to work to help out. While at work, he finds a classmate, Grace, dumpster hopping. She's run away from home. Taking pity on her, he brings her home to live in a clubhouse way back in the woods behind his house, giving her food, being a friend, protecting her. But she has a secret he can't guess, and the results of the fall and winter dramatically affect him.If you've read any Richard Paul Evans, then you know his trademark is tearjerkers, and this was no different in that department. I liked the characters, and wanted to hug Grace so badly. Though often sad, there's hope in the story, too.

[PHYLLIS RODRIGUEZ · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very different. Like Nothing I've read before. He's a great author!

[madelina · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a great read, I always enjoyed his book, thank you to the author.

[Karen Chandler · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So sad but great as it brings awareness of child abuse. How important is friendship.