We meet Grace when she’s sitting and sweating in traffic — until, no longer able to bear it, she abandons her car and walks away. She is desperate to get to her teenager’s birthday party across town, hoping to make amends after a fight. An 11th-hour reveal — you may find it moving or manipulative — sheds light on Grace’s particular anxieties. I may be proving the author’s point by noting that her central character can be hard to root for. Try as she might, there is no way to separate your hormones from your true self.

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Persons: Grace, she’s, Littlewood, Michael Douglas, Grace Adams, Amy Dunne, Bernadette Fox, Barbie, ”, “, ” Littlewood