A powerfully moving novel about Rue Shaw, a woman who has everything worth having – a much loved daughter, a solid marriage, and a job she loves – plus one great failing: She wants things to stay the same. Set in the close-knit world of a country day school on California’s gold coast, Saying Grace captures a clash of values and cultures that profoundly shakes the entire community, especially the life of Rue Shaw, who heads the school.

“The reader faces that most wonderful perplexity: whether to read quickly for the story, which rivets, or slowly for the writing, which enthralls.”
—Sandra Scofiled, author of Opal on Dry Ground and A Chance to See Egypt

“I worried that I might not love Saying Grace as much as I had Domestic Pleasures, but I loved it just as much, maybe even more. Beth Gutcheon is a wonderful writer.”
—Anne LaMott, author of Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

“Written with a quiet authority and power, these interesting, complicated characters involve us in their concerns, enlighten us with their humanity.”
—Michael Dorris, author of Paper Trail, A Yellow Raft on Blue Water, and Broken Cord, and coauthor of the The Crown of Columbus

“Deliciously readable.” —San Francisco Chronicle