Monday, May 23, 2005
Saving Grace by Lee Smith
In Saving Grace we meet Florida Grace. Grace's father is a preacher, an anointed man of God, who handles snakes as part of worship and asks other people to support him and his family. In the first thrill of religious ecstasy, communities and churches embrace and uphold the family but as times passes the truth can not be kept covered.
When Grace's mother met Virgil Shepherd, she was a dancing girl and he swept her up in glory and power. Now they live in a donated house eating donated food and she finds out that Virgil is cheating on her. He has a sexual magnetism that draws women to him, women young and old; the older women become his staunch supporters and worship with him and the younger women take him to their beds. The women, his previous behaviours, and a child from a previous marriage visit Scrabble Creek to bring him down. Not terribly worried, Virgil repents and is cleansed and moves on to start anew.
Grace is a child who has been so abused and manipulated by people she loves that she is unable to feel real love. She despises Virgil and yet is tied so tightly to him that she acts out his behaviours in her adolescent and adult life. Grace keeps searching for love and freedom but is mired down by her honest desire to not hurt other people and her destructive actions.
In the end, Grace returns to Scrabble Creek and fasts. She tells her friends and family not to worry, that she will come back as soon as she clears her mind. I think that at the end she commits suicide but two other people who read the book believed that she came out and began handling snakes at the new place of worship.
When Grace's mother met Virgil Shepherd, she was a dancing girl and he swept her up in glory and power. Now they live in a donated house eating donated food and she finds out that Virgil is cheating on her. He has a sexual magnetism that draws women to him, women young and old; the older women become his staunch supporters and worship with him and the younger women take him to their beds. The women, his previous behaviours, and a child from a previous marriage visit Scrabble Creek to bring him down. Not terribly worried, Virgil repents and is cleansed and moves on to start anew.
Grace is a child who has been so abused and manipulated by people she loves that she is unable to feel real love. She despises Virgil and yet is tied so tightly to him that she acts out his behaviours in her adolescent and adult life. Grace keeps searching for love and freedom but is mired down by her honest desire to not hurt other people and her destructive actions.
In the end, Grace returns to Scrabble Creek and fasts. She tells her friends and family not to worry, that she will come back as soon as she clears her mind. I think that at the end she commits suicide but two other people who read the book believed that she came out and began handling snakes at the new place of worship.
# posted by JJ @ 10:18 AM 
