Book Review: Amazing Gracie

The author's grandmother

This is an interesting story. It arrived this week, and I picked it up while waiting for Raonic to begin playing quarter final tennis, and just before England and Croatia were about to play soccer. Except for that, I would have kept reading! I spent yesterday afternoon reading. Still bouts of coughing, but they are becoming less frequent. Exercise exacerbates it. Sadly.

Haibach has voiced his grandmother very well. He has created dialogue that rings true of the times, as well as writing from a female perspective. The author has done his research, including some information about the famous Hotel Schenley, in Pittsburgh. It was a lively read.

There has always been a socioeconomic divide between the rich and the poor; those with new money, and old, Protestants and Catholics. These biases run deep in many circles, despite Americans fleeing the UK for more religious freedom.
Haibach's treatment of the family history was very well done, flipping between his grandmother's courtship, and her early years. This is much more intriguing than a simple biography.

There is an interview with Haibach, on a Fox program. Now, I boycott Fox Network. I simply cannot watch them. You can go to Haibach's website to find it, if you choose. He has some lovely family photos, and archival documents there. I think I would have appreciated a few in the book. I had no idea were Erie is! Some of the action takes place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as well.

Some of the story takes place in Erie, Pennsylvania.
I had to look it up!

Amazing Gracie, by Michael Haibach, is the compelling true story of a little girl who survives the shocking destruction of her poor-yet-loving family, and rises to become a woman of strength, courage, and tenacity.  What lies beneath Gracie Dodson Haibach’s sophisticated, wealthy, refined, high-society exterior has been a closely guarded secret for nearly a century, and is only revealed when her grandson begins researching his family’s history and uncovers his grandmother’s true past; a past filled with tragedy, betrayal, deception, and unimaginable abuse.  But the true secret revealed in Amazing Gracie, is that, at its heart, it is really a story about love, friendship, family, and survival.

A Note from the Author
​We all know it’s the people, experiences and events that shape us into what and who we eventually become.  And yet, Grace Dodson Haibach, my grandmother, moved past all that. That in essence is what I learned from her life: we are not defined or limited by our experiences; we each have the ability to choose how we deal with what fate hands us. 
​​It’s those decisions —  those choices — that either hold us back or open new doors to a better future.