Gracious Living Without Servants by Brenda Cronin
Source: Review Copy
Genre: Literary Fiction
Format: Paperback
From the Publisher…
Juliet has done the right thing all her life, and where’s it gotten her? She’s a thirty-year-old widow who’s had to move in with her parents.
Things start to look up when her glamorous—but married—neighbor Seth seems to be flirting with her and helps her land a job at a local paper.
Then she’s assigned to investigate Seth’s wife. Juliet is quickly immersed in lies, manipulation, and a deepening sex scandal. But she feels alive for the first time in a long time.
Maybe she needs to do the wrong thing for once. Or maybe she’s headed for disaster.
From Me…
I almost gave up on this book after the first few
chapters. After finding out that Seth,
the married neighbor was 65 years old, I was very skeptical. The main problem I had was that I knew I
couldn’t root for the main couple. Since
this was a review copy, I kept reading and I’m glad that I did. I decided that instead of rooting for the
main couple, I rooted against them. This
made for a lot of funny faces while reading and very satisfying ending.
chapters. After finding out that Seth,
the married neighbor was 65 years old, I was very skeptical. The main problem I had was that I knew I
couldn’t root for the main couple. Since
this was a review copy, I kept reading and I’m glad that I did. I decided that instead of rooting for the
main couple, I rooted against them. This
made for a lot of funny faces while reading and very satisfying ending.
Were it not for my problems with the central relationship, I probably would have enjoyed this book a lot more. As it was, the book was well-written and very good. The main character was very sympathetic until the affair started, but even after that I wanted her to get better and start thinking straight. Once I really thought about it, I finally understood that Juliet was a very lost person who possibly made some possibly poor life choices. Understanding that basic fact makes some of her behavior much more understandable.
I would have rated this book a four or five if I was more open to the relationship between Seth and Juliet. If this doesn’t bother you at all, then you will definitely enjoy this book. I am glad I agreed to read it.
Thank you for this lively review of Gracious Living Without Servants. I appreciate that you laid out both your positive and negative responses. I think you're right to root against Seth and Juliet as a couple.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this book for the tour!
Your welcome! It was fun to read, an dI hope I get to tour with you guys again!!!