True Grace: A Black Woman's Journey to Save Her Family

“The first time my husband died, I felt fear, shame, and guilt. The second time he died…” Thus begins the harrowing Harlem journey of Grace Herbert in a 1920s roaring with renaissance and racism, “secrets and lies–treacherous twins working in concert…Secrets are bits of life-carnage tucked away, hidden from the light…When you keep them tucked inside, secrets as hard as marbles…you can pretend.” But “A constant diet of secrets, lies, grief, and shame hollowed you out…weighed you down, cobbled you to stories you shared, but then forgot.” “Colored, female, and an immigrant” Grace is “a convict’s wife, committed for a heinous crime…navigating the halls of justice or…the halls of injustice, unfairness, and luck of the draw.” She’s the daughter of courageous British and African parents, brave and mighty people, missionaries who fought the Congo River, rhinos, and crocodiles, fended off disease and famine, thrashed through the bush to dig wells and build schools and hospitals. Bringing the World of God. “My English and African blood saturates me with strength…Now, I must save my family.” When she discovers her husband molesting their child, Grace is determined that her daughter will not be the mother of her sister. She has her husband convicted and tells family and friends he is dead. “People treat a widow differently than a criminal’s wife.” Despite her secret, she is compelled to relinquish her home, leave her babies in foster care living next to a child-seller, and abandon her eldest daughters to work instead of attending school. She forges a career as a dressmaker to reunite her family and survive. “In none of this literature I devoured was a woman like me sitting before a judge, testifying to her husband’s horrible acts and character.” Inspired by real people and events, Karen E. Osborne’s True Grace is a compelling addition to our bookshelves. “Scary, exhilarating, and grand.” I was hooked from the first sentence and read it in one sitting.