Book Review: Sufficient Grace

I stumbled upon this book quite by accident.  I think the title jumped out at me and then the jacket flap descriptions hooked me further.  It received good reviews on Amazon and was suggested as a good book club choice. However, I would have to say that, for me, this book was just okay (nothing spectacular).  The inside cover declares it a "spellbinding debut novel."  While it was well-written for a debut novel, I didn't find it spellbinding.  In fact, I couldn't really tell where it was headed or why it was taking so long to get there.

The story line is compelling enough.  Here's the book flap description that sucked me in:

"One quiet spring day, Gracie Holloman hears voices in her head that tell her to get in her car and leave her entire life behind - her home, her husband, her daughter, her very identity.  Gracie's subsequent journey releases her genius for painting and effects profound changes in the lives of everyone around her.  Ultimately, her quest leads her into the home of Mama Toot and Mattie, two strong, accomplished women going through life changes of their own.  As the bonds between these women grow stronger, and the family Gracie left behind come to terms with their own loss, both worlds slowly and inevitably collide, revealing a long-buried secret that they share."

I guess by the time I got to the "long-buried secret," it didn't seem like that big a deal.  The book just meandered too much for me and I never really connected with the characters enough to care.  Plus, it seemed to be billed as a religious novel and the religion in the novel was just religion, not a life-changing relationship with God.  Scripture was quoted and hymns were sung, but the lives of the characters seemed unchanged by these interactions.  Perhaps I was seeking more redemption.   For whatever reason, this book didn't stir me as much as I had hoped.