Grace Of The Empire State by Gemma Tizzard

 

Grace of the Empire State by Gemma Tizzard.

Published 28th January 2025 by Headline Review.

From the cover of the book:

As the Great Depression bites, show dancer Grace's Irish immigrant family can't afford the rising rents, nor the medicine that her little sister urgently needs.

When her twin brother is injured and can no longer work on the construction of the half-built Empire State Building, Grace steps up - literally. She trades her dancing shoes for worker boots, braving deadly metal work hundreds of feet in the sky.

But survival isn't guaranteed. Failure could mean not only losing her job, but also her life, and the livelihood of her family and team. Sparks fly across the great metal beams, as a terrible accident and a split-second decision leaves Grace re-evaluating everything that she thought she knew about herself...

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1930, New York. After the death of their father, the burden of supporting their family falls to twenty one-year-old Irish-American, identical twins, Grace and Patrick O'Connell. Grace is a dancer in a nightclub, hoping to one day hit the big time on Broadway, and Patrick (with secret ambitions of his own) 'works the steel' on the construction site of the Empire State Building. Times are tough, but at least they are lucky enough to have jobs when the Great Depression is bringing misery to so many.

Then Grace is laid off, and Patrick breaks his arm after a misstep on the construction site. They have no idea how they will be able to stop themselves, their grieving mother, and ailing younger sister Connie from becoming homeless. More than that, the other three members of Patrick's work gang, with families of their own to support, will also lose their jobs if he is unable to return to work. There is only one solution - Grace must take Patrick's place until he is well enough to get back to work. 

Grace has a lot to learn, not least how to pretend to be her brother, but with the help of her determination, acrobatic skills, and the support of Patrick's loyal work mates (especially the handsome Italian immigrant Joe) she proves herself just as good as any man working on the steel. Their plan very nearly succeeds, until a terrible accident happens, and Grace has to choose between saving a doomed man, or keeping her secret...

Gemma Tizzard's compelling debut plunges you into life in the Big Apple, as the Great Depression begins to tell, through the eyes of twins Grace and Patrick O'Connell. The loss of their father means hard choices for Grace and Patrick, and the strain is driving a wedge between them. Grace loses herself in the bustling club scene of the city that never sleeps, taking comfort from her ability to forget everything while she is dancing. Meanwhile, Patrick, spends long days putting his life on the line high above the city-scape on the construction of the Empire State Building. They seem on different paths, destined to grow further apart in pursuit of their private hopes and dreams, but when fate throws them a curve-ball, they discover they have more in common that each of them realised

Tizzard brings the melting pot of 1930's New York alive through so many aspects of the city. The experiences of the twins shine a light on the vibrant clubs which draw the crowds, while being mired in shocking discrimination; the sleazy joints where desperation breeds exploitation; the struggle to get a foothold on a Broadway stage; people struggling, and sometimes failing, to survive in the grip of an economic downturn that hits the poorest hardest; and the dangerous business of building a skyscraper, where one wrong step can mean doom. There is a lot of darkness, and yet, there is so much warmth in this story too. My heart was filled to overflowing with the tenderness of family; the bonds of friendship; the courage of ordinary folk; and the seeds of true love that can bloom between people thrown together in adversity - tears were shed.

There is such a lovely cast of characters in this book, led from the front by Grace, with her spirit and tenacity, and Patrick with his quieter, but equally important part to play. The love stories Tizzard conjures for them are enchanting, and hit the perfect spot on the romantic suspense scale. And the detail she goes into about the construction of the Empire State Building is fascinating. I felt every moment beside Grace, Patrick, and the wonderful Seamus, Frank and Joe as they went about their perilous jobs balancing on a few inches of steel high above the city - and this makes for a powerful tribute to the men who actually stood in their places.

I thoroughly enjoyed this historical fiction gem. It does not shy away from the sadness that comes with difficult times and places, but its message of love, strength, and hope is beautiful. Gemma Tizzard, you have a fan, and I cannot wait to see what comes next!

Grace of the Empire State is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Headline for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to join this blog tour.

About the author:

Gemma Tizzard is from Berkshire, and currently lives in Southampton, where she works as a marketing manager by day, and writes historical fiction by evening. She can most often be found scribbling notes from research books about her latest obsession, or plastering the walls with Post-It notes. Whenever she's not working, she can be found reading, or planning her next travel adventure.

She has a degree in American Studies and a particular interest in untold women's stories throughout the twentieth century. GRACE OF THE EMPIRE STATE is her debut novel, available in January 2025, with a second, set in Boston in 1942, due in 2026.

Gemma also writes rom-coms, and was longlisted for the Comedy Women in Print (CWIP) Unpublished Novel Prize in both 2021 and 2022.