Beauty & Grace is an intensely moving work of historical fiction telling the stories of Teagan Cormick and Grace Reid, women from different worlds and different eras, brought together within the haunting confines of Midland’s Wood Haven asylum.Teagan leads readers through her early life in Queenstown, County Cork, through to her youthful immigration to America and her chilling, involuntary commitment to Wood Haven following The Crash of 1929.Grace arrives at Wood Haven in 1978, hired as a consultant to deinstitutionalize the ten remaining patients trapped for decades within the asylum walls as well as to deal with Midland citizens determined to prevent “asylum people” from moving into their community.Together, Teagan and Grace lead Wood Haven patients from the dark past into new lives, in the process telling stories and sharing memories that form a lasting imprint in reader’s hearts. "I used to be an avid reader but with children you lose out on time toyourself. I haven't sat down to read a book in about a year. I can't tell youhow enjoyable it truly was to start reading Beauty and Grace again. I gotlost in chapter 2 reading how Teagan arrived so brutally at Wood Haven, and I felt my mouth watering over "pigs in a blanket" while Grace ate. You truly have a gift for writing with a easy flow.---Jocelyn In Beauty & Grace, I was especially struck with the sensitivitywith which you presented each character and their experiences. Teagan, ofcourse, is extraordinary. She has a strength that seems rooted in herhomeland and never loses that her connection. As I got to the last 100 pages I had a hard time pulling myself away from the book to accomplish anything but reading. It has been both a joy and asadness to read. Your writing is always a joy, the experiences of thesepatients a sadness.---Marion S.