ABOUT THE BOOK
States of Grace
Now Querying
One soul. Three women.
Two thousand years of longing, memory, and defiance.
An upmarket speculative novel about reincarnation, grief, love, and transformation.
Grace understands the world through evidence. As an environmental scientist on the New Hampshire coast, she trusts observable facts, measurable change, and believes that everything has a logical explanation. She relies on this practical approach to balance family, work, and the demands of everyday life. But when her mother dies, the scientific lens through which she has always viewed the world begins to fracture. In the wake of her grief, an impulsive attempt to save a drowning child triggers visions of a white tiger, a drowning man, and an ocean on fire.
In 120 AD, Marcella survives as a prized performer, entertaining the Roman crowds alongside her white tiger while carefully navigating the whims of the men who own her. But when she is forced into the arena herself, she discovers a power she never expected—and begins to imagine a life beyond captivity.
In 1875, Catherine, the brilliant daughter of a Victorian merchant, expects to inherit the family business she helped build. When a devastating fire destroys the docks and claims her father’s life, she agrees to a marriage that secures her family’s future but threatens to take away her freedom.
Meanwhile, Grace’s visions intensify and the boundaries between past and present dissolve. People from her visions appear in the present, and Grace finds herself drawn toward a man she is certain she has known before. She realizes the impossible: the women in the visions are not strangers—they are lives she has already lived.
As Grace begins to see the connection between these lives, she recognizes a pattern that has followed her across centuries. To break it, she must confront the truth she has long avoided: the life she faithfully built for herself no longer has room for the woman she is becoming.
Praise for States of Grace
What readers have been saying...
"I picked up the book expecting a curious read about past lives and put it down feeling like a different person. Emily DiFranco writes about reincarnation with warmth and honesty. Each chapter made me think about who I was before the story I tell myself today. This book will start a movement."
"States of Grace captivates with beautiful prose, deeply felt emotion, and the sweep of adventure across three kindred lives."
"Emily DiFranco has written a magnificent and haunting novel that lingers long after the story ends."
"This is the story of one woman’s journey into her truest, most profound purpose, direction and meaning. It’s something that I, like so many, seek in my own life."
