Grace Adams is an exceptional polyglot when she meets Ben Kerr at a polyglot convention and wins it with Ben coming in second. To be fair, she invites him to accompany her on the weekend at a resort that she won. A few months later, Grace finds that she is pregnant and seeks out Ben. They eventually marry. The story covers 45-year-old Grace's actions during one day, the day of her daughter Lotte's 16th birthday. Grace has had it with everything and leaves her car in the middle of a highway during a massive traffic jam and walks to pick up the cake she ordered in order to deliver it to her daughter, who is now living with her father Ben after having a major falling out with her mother. The falling out concerned her skipping school to have a relationship with one of her teachers. When Grace reports this to the school, Lotte disowns her. Grace plans to get back into Lotte's good graces by taking this birthday cake to her. The book details her trek on foot across London with all her frustrations. The backstory is told in alternating chapters: 4 months ago, 3 months ago...; years; and current day. This style was very hard to follow, and I think, could have been told in a more chronological fashion. Grace comes off as an angry and depressed person who seems to be unable to help herself. She seems to be her own worst enemy and has become unable to lead a stable life. ( )

Kind of a difficult book to read, as a mother. Being a mother is hard and Grace struggles. It’s so hard to watch. But I couldn’t help rooting for her, and feeling/understanding her pain. ( )

Did not like this book. The worst time line in history. ( )

Littlewood manages to pull more feelings than expected from a novel about a woman going through an existential crisis. ( )

Oh, man, I loved this one. A lot. I sometimes find books about motherhood to be of little interest, but Grace is a fascinating character. I loved how Littlewood wove three strands of timeline together to give us a full picture of Grace, her husband Ben, and their daughter, Lotte. Touching on issues of misogyny, parenthood, grief, bullying, and the complex emotional ties between mothers and daughters, this book made me laugh and cheer and cry.

The audio is perfect, and it's one of those books I am not sure I would have liked as much in print. The narrator imbues Grace with so much warmth and pain and humor, she really came alive for me.

5 stars ( )