In this wise and warm debut novel, an Italian American grandmother, daughter, and granddaughter all named after the Roman myth of the Three Graces find their lives—and their secrets—colliding when, after years apart, they come to live under the same roof.

Graziella, a ninety-six-year-old former nun, spends her days running the parish’s food kitchen, convinced it is her responsibility to keep everyone fed in their working-class New York neighborhood. Her daughter, Grace, a respected psychology professor, appears accomplished and composed, yet finds herself unmoored as her personal life falters. Ella—Graziella’s granddaughter and Grace’s daughter—is weary of defending her vegan diet and anti-capitalistic lifestyle; blind to her own brilliance, she longs, above all, for a place to belong. Living together again, the three Graces reckon with the distances that have shaped them, and with what it means, at last, to be fully known.

Populated by unforgettable characters, The Three Graces of Pearl Street explores the delicate balance between tradition and modernity, and the quiet courage it takes to move through the world with true grace.

This was a well-written and super sweet story about three generations of women. By the time I finished, I felt like I’d actually been living in their house with them because I knew them so well.

Graziella is ninety-six years old and used to be a nun. She runs the food kitchen at her parish in a working-class New York neighborhood, and she truly believes it’s her job to make sure nobody goes hungry. Her daughter, Grace, is a psychology professor who looks like she has everything together, but as she creeps closer to finally being divorced, she still feels strangely adrift. Grace’s daughter, Ella, is just trying to make sense of the world. She can’t see how brilliant she is, and what she wants most is a place to belong. After years apart, all three women end up living under one roof. Old wounds are reopened, but despite the discourse, there’s a lot of love and healing along the way.

What I loved most was getting a front row seat through a first-person POV of all three generations. They’re all wildly different at first glance, but they also share a resilience that runs through the whole family. Even though they’re related, it was almost like they had to learn how to get to know each other all over again and it was so fun to watch. Getting inside each of their heads gave me insight into why they act and feel the way they do, so I never felt like I was judging one of them from the outside. It also gave me a front-row seat to watching them change. Small shifts in how they talked to each other and how they saw themselves added up over time, and it made it all feel very real.

The writing is strong, and the story is captivating, even though it’s a bit slower-paced. I’d say this is one of those books you pick up when you need the world to slow down so you can settle into someone else’s life for a while. My only complaint is that some of the chapters could have been tightened a bit, and the ending went on a little too long. By the last stretch, I was ready for things to wrap up, and the book kept going for a few more pages than I felt it needed. Still, those are minor critiques, and they didn’t change how much I enjoyed it overall

This one is definitely worth reading. If you like quiet family stories with multiple perspectives, I think you’ll be glad you spent time on Pearl Street.

Book Club/Book Box: