Grace Grows

Tightly controlled and emotionally constrained, textbook editor Grace Barnum is leading a step-by-step life in Sumners’ compelling if slightly patchy debut. Living with her often-gone boyfriend, Grace is uncharacteristically “dressed like a call girl” the day she meets aspiring singer Tyler Wilkie. From then on Grace and Tyler share a completely chaste friendship that hovers on the brink of being an affair. Grace refuses to admit her feelings for Tyler, or even think to tell her boyfriend how much time she spends with the scruffy musician. When she realizes Tyler is writing songs about her, she panics and does all she can to push away this chance at genuine, world-shattering love. The story’s focus on its frustratingly stubborn heroine, her well-developed family ties, and the confusing dance between longing heart and shuttered psyche creates a slow yet satisfying, engaging quality that keeps the pages turning. Agent: Laurie Liss, Sterling Lord Literistic. (Oct.)