Hadley and Grace: A Novel

Hadley and Grace is by Suzanne Redfearn. This book is really good. Once you get into it, it is difficult to put down. You have to find out what happens to Hadley and Grace. Hadley has had enough of marriage to Frank. He has gotten too controlling and to easy to anger. He has forgotten that they married because they were in love and that she deserved better. The chance to take Mattie and run is just too great. She has to take her nephew, Skipper, back to his mother. Hadley and Frank have had him since birth. Skipper has a very low IQ but is the sweetest little boy around. Everyone loves him. Mattie and Skipper have a great relationship and she can settle him down when no one else can. They will take him to her sister and then run. She has the car packed and everything is ready to go, except one thing and she can take care of that on the way. Leaving tonight will be easier on Skipper as he will be sleeping. That is, if Frank agrees. As soon as they get in the car, Mattie asks if they are ever coming back. She has seen her Mom put her Grandmother’s apron in her bag. That is the one thing Hadley would want to keep. Mattie is all for not coming back. She has become afraid of her Dad’s anger. So far, he hasn’t hurt anyone; but it is coming. Hadley stops at a hotel near the interstate and leaves Mattie and Skipper there while she finishes getting things together. She heads to Frank’s business office. She knows he has a safe here and keeps money in it. She plans to take cash so he can’t trace them. However, as she hunts in the office, she can’t find the safe. Then she hears a noise out in the office. Grace has worked for Frank for a short time; but knows it won’t last. However, since her husband, Jimmy, has a gambling problem, she needs the job. Maybe being back in the army will keep Jimmy from gambling. Meanwhile, Grace has worked very hard to get a contract with a man downtown to rent his property for parking. Frank promised her a commission if she got the contract signed. However, when she takes the contract to him, Frank pretends the promise was never made. If that isn’t bad luck enough, she has to stop to get gas on the way to pick up her son, Miles. Her credit card doesn’t work! Jimmy has maxed it out gambling again! Later that night, when Miles is screaming from colic, she puts him in the car and drives to the office. She knows Frank will fire her on Tuesday, so she is going to get into his safe and take her commission! He owes it to her. However, someone is here? When Hadley and Grace get together, they have both the safe and the combination. What they get is a huge surprise when they open the safe! It is FULL of money. Because Hadley had sprained her ankle, Grace takes her to the hotel where they count the money and split it. While Hadley is feeding Miles, Grace ends up going to sleep and sleeping all night. The next morning, she takes Hadley to the emergency room for her ankle. Then, the re al fun begins. It is Thelma and Louise all over again, except there are now three minors along for the ride. The book just gets better from this point on. Will they get away or will they end up in jail?

I enjoyed this from beginning to end. I loved the way the two women’s characters and issues were presented early on. Their eventual meetup was comical, but intriguing. Once the field agent was introduced, I was hooked. I knew this was going to be an entertaining game of cat and mouse. These seemingly inept women kept everyone on their toes. They managed to outsmart so many people. During their journey, they developed a beautiful bond. I loved watching the evolution of their relationship. The epilogue was perfection. It gave me everything that I wanted. I was so happy with how things turned out. Though I have never seen Thelma & Louise, I am familiar with the basic plot. This book provided a very entertaining spin on the concept.

Mixed review, but you will be entertained.

To write a review that will help other readers determine if HADLEY AND GRACE is a book they will enjoy, requires that I cover both the good (even excellent) aspects of the story, along with what disappointed me (the bad).

First let me make it clear that I actually really enjoyed HADLEY AND GRACE and finished it with a big smile on my face. I won't be forgetting the story any time soon. I whipped right through it, and can honestly say it was NEVER boring. The author, Suzanne Redfern, is extremely gifted. She has created several characters, strikingly different from each other, that I fell in love with. The grand criminal adventure is carried almost entirely by the character development, and the way in which two women, and 3 children, band together, in desperation, to become a family of sorts. If you enjoy poignant stories about human nature and the ability of resiliency to overcome great obstacles, this book is for you.I

I picked HADLEY AND GRACE because I LOVED LOVED LOVED the author's novel, IN AN INSTANT. There is a real danger for any author who is expected to "top" a previous novel, that sets an impossibly high bar for everything they write after. HADLEY AND GRACE is not nearly as good as IN AN INSTANT. (Just compare the quality of the two book titles. One is a terrible title for a book and the other one is darn near perfect!).

The main problem I had with HADLEY AND GRACE was the eye rolling implausibility of it all. While the relationships, and the emotions that accompany them, feel quite genuine, the circumstances themselves, would never ever happen, in the real world. Real people don't meet and hook up (partner, become friends, lend their vehicles, or have sex) with strangers in anything near the way things unfold in the story. Until you really start to know and love the characters, you, like me, may be indulging in a little eye rolling yourself. It is REALLY hard to suspend disbelief enough go along with a couple of the more ridiculous scenes in the book.

HADLEY AND GRACE is charming though, and it is one of those books that keeps getting better and better. There is a lot to be said for finishing a book smiling, and wishing you knew these people in real life.

Don't read it because you loved Thelma and Louise or skip it, because you hated it. It could have just as easily been compared to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kidd-- except Hadley and Grace are a current version, raised to hero status by the news media, social media and an adoring public, who are willing to overlook their criminal behavior. The media publish stories calling them "Mama Bears" and comparing them to Thelma and Louise (a story the book's author was inspired by.)

I really liked this author's "In an Instant", so this was an easy Kindle First Reads choice. This was fun and enjoyable, but requires great suspension of disbelief.

Hadley and Grace meet simply by coincidence, to steal Frank's (Hadley's abusive husband and Grace's sketchy boss) money. One disaster leads to another and they're on the run. The FBI are either incompetent or enamored with the women (hence the suspension of disbelief).

Both women have completely different strengths that compliment each other, though they are loath to admit it, they make a good team. I had a soft spot for 14 year old Mattie, who is justifiably angry at her home life. She's angry with her dad because of his temper, and angry with her mom because her mom puts up with it.

I found Skipper's character all over the place. He's referred to as "magical" a couple of times, which just seemed weird. He even morphed into Forrest Gump in one scene when he says, “And that’s all there is to say about that.”

The ending is kind of what you root for, but you know would never happen in a million years.