Hey everyone, welcome to the Deep Dive. Great
to be here. So today, picture this, New York
City, 1930s. You've got towering ambition literally
scraping the sky, but right down on the street
level, real desperation too. Mm -hmm, a city
of contrasts for sure. Exactly, and that's kind
of the world we're stepping into with... Gemma
Tizard's novel, Grace of the Empire State. Yeah,
it's historical fiction and it really throws
you right in. It does. The source you shared
really highlighted that. It centers on this young
woman, Grace. That's right, Grace. And she's
basically navigating, well, everything. Family
stuff, the sheer challenge of survival back then.
And it's all tangled up with the building of
the Empire State Building, right? And, you know,
the social world of the time. Precisely. It weaves
her personal story into this huge historical
moment. You know, diving into it, a few things
really jumped out at me. First off, just the
atmosphere. Tizard's description of 1930s New
York. Wow. Oh, absolutely. You really get a sense
of the place, don't you? The energy, the noise.
Yeah, and the sheer scale of that building going
up, you could almost feel it. And that's often
what makes good historical fiction work, isn't
it? That blend. What blend exactly? You know,
the big picture, the historical events blending
with the really personal side of things, the
characters' lives. Totally. And speaking of characters,
the relationships felt very strong, especially
the women, Grace's friendships, and her family
connections. Mm -hmm. Those bonds felt, well,
really authentic, resonant. You cared about them.
I agree. And I loved how those personal stories
weren't just happening during the historical
events, but were actually, you know, shaped by
them, sometimes in really surprising ways. Right.
The context wasn't just wallpaper. It mattered
to their choices, their struggles. Yeah. But
on the flip side, and this is just a minor thing,
maybe. Well, there were quite a few characters,
weren't there? There were, yeah. A pretty large
cast. And sometimes maybe it felt a bit hard
to keep track or get deeply invested in every
single person's journey. I can see that. It's
a balancing act, introducing enough characters
to make the world feel rich without overwhelming
the reader. Right. And maybe tied to that, did
you find the pacing a little uneven at times?
Possibly. Yeah, you could say that. Some plot
points seemed to really race ahead, while others
kind of lingered a bit longer. Yeah, it just
slightly affected the flow for me in a couple
of spots. Nothing major, but noticeable. Sure.
And maybe one other small point. What's that?
While the historical setting was generally fantastic,
maybe a couple of the social or economic threads,
they could perhaps have been explored just a
touch more deeply. To give even more insight
into what people were really up against. I get
that. Like delve even further into the day to
day realities for some characters. Exactly. But
look, these are pretty minor critiques, really.
Oh, for sure. Overall, it's a really compelling
book. It gives you this amazing window into such
a, well, a transformative time. Definitely. It
does make you think, doesn't it? How ordinary
people just live their lives amidst these huge
history making events. Yeah. How those big moments
intersect with just, you know. Getting by. So
putting it all together for that rich picture
of 1930s New York, the compelling characters,
the way it tackles these big themes, I'd give
Grace of the Empire State a solid four out of
five stars. I think that's fair. It's a story
that definitely sticks with you, makes you ponder
that resilience you mentioned. Yeah. Individual
resilience against these massive forces of change.
Well put. Okay. Well, that pretty much wraps
up our deep dive into Grace the Empire State
for today. It was a good one to discuss. If you
enjoyed our chat, please do give us a like and
definitely subscribe so you catch our future
deep dives. And if you're tempted to read the
book yourself after hearing this. Yes. We'll
pop an Amazon link for Gemma Tizard's novel right
there in the description for you. Easy peasy.
And we genuinely want to hear from you all listening.
What part of our discussion caught your ear?
Yeah, drop a comment below. Tell us your favorite
bit or maybe something about this glimpse into
the book that intrigued you the most. And please
do share this with anyone else you think might
enjoy it. Fellow historical fiction fans, maybe.
Definitely. Spread the word. Okay, so maybe one
last thought to leave everyone with. Go for it.
Think about those grand achievements we see,
like the Empire State Building or any big historical
marker. How many hidden stories, how many personal
sacrifices and quiet struggles lie just beneath
the surface? Things we never hear about. That's
a great point. And it makes you wonder, what
are the untold narratives, the quiet acts of
resilience happening all around us, even right
now, that we just don't see? Something to think
about. Definitely something to think about. Thanks,
everyone, for tuning in. Thanks, all.