Grace and Mary

Melvyn Bragg Press Reviews

Bragg's detailed evocation of the Wigton of his youth, the people that lived there, the beauty of the Cumbrian scenery, the lively sense of the region's long and varied history, is delightful. It's a novel that deserves to be read slowly, the details cherished. -- Allan Massie The Scotsman

The novel's multiple narratives are skilfully teased out from John's attempts to prolong meaningful life for his mother by stimulating her failing memory ... For each generation, Bragg suggests, a key component of the quest is coming to terms with the past - a feat that his quietly intense novel pulls off with joy, sorrow and precision. -- David Grylls The Sunday Times

Beautifully conveys how the past is a continuum that constantly feeds our consciousness of the present, altering its current and direction. It is starkly truthful about the perils of ageing. But it is also a convincing testimony to familial love, and its power to prompt the imagination in the service of a more generous understanding ... It is a gem. -- Salley Vickers Independent

A beautiful book, elegant, restrained and full of nuanced meditations on the nature of identity -- Julia Molony Independent on Sunday