Monday, 27 January 2025

Review - Grace of the Empire State by Gemma Tizzard

Grace of the Empire State by Gemma Tizzard
Publisher: Headline Review
Release date: 28 January 2025
Back cover blurb: As the Great Depression bites, show dancer Grace's Irish immigrant family can't afford the rising rents, nor the medicine that her little sister urgently needs. When her twin brother is injured and can no longer work on the construction of the half-built Empire State Building, Grace steps up - literally. She trades her dancing shoes for worker boots, braving deadly metal work hundreds of feet in the sky. But survival isn't guaranteed. Failure could mean not only losing her job, but also her life, and the livelihood of her family and team. Sparks fly across the great metal beams, as a terrible accident and a split-second decision leaves Grace re-evaluating everything that she thought she knew about herself...








What a wonderful book this is. I love historical fiction, as any regular readers of my blog will know, but this one is a little bit different, and a little bit special.

Grace O'Connell is a dancer dreaming of working on Broadway, but lacking the confidence to audition when her family's life is turned upside down.

Her twin brother Patrick is injured and unable to work. If he can't go to work not only will he lose his job, but also the jobs of his friends and family around him.

Patrick is 'working the steel' part of the men building the iconic empire state building. If one of them goes down, they take the whole team with them...

Not only that but the twin's younger sister Connie is gravely ill, and they need the additional income to be able to pay for her medicines and treatment.

As Grace sees it, there is only one possible solution, she must masquerade as Patrick for enough time to allow his injury to heal and return to work.

They look alike enough for it not to be noticeable, as long as she can learn to do his work effectively, the weeks should pass quickly and no one will ever know.

Except nothing of course is that simple. 

The challenges that the O'Connell family, and those around them are nothing short of devastating. I've not read another historical fiction novel set in the great depression before, but I can only imagine how tough it must have been.

Grace's courage and love for her family are nothing short of outstanding and really shine through in this novel. Grace is an amazingly brave young woman, and if everyone was a little bit more like her, the world would be a much better place. 

Grace of the Empire State is available to pre-order now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

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