The Grace Year
In the isolated community of Garner County, girls are told they carry a dangerous magic that awakens at sixteen and must be spent in the wild. Every year the girls of that age are sent away for their grace year, expected to return, if they return at all, meek, drained, and ready for the husbands the men of the town have chosen for them. Tierney James, a tomboy who has never wanted to be claimed by anyone, is selected against her will and driven out into the encampment with dozens of other girls, who turn out to be more frightened of each other than of the poachers in the woods beyond the fence. Kim Liggett's feminist YA novel pairs The Handmaid's Tale with The Lord of the Flies in a tense, angry story about female friendship, social conditioning, and the lies a community tells to keep its daughters small.
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In Garner County, every sixteen-year-old girl is sent into the woods for a grace year to release her magic before she is allowed back to marry or work. Tierney James's year begins with thirty-two girls behind a fence, hunters waiting outside it, and a county that lies about what really happens.
Yes. The Grace Year is YA dystopian fiction, suitable for readers 14 and up. The Lord of the Flies-style premise and on-page violence make it more intense than typical YA dystopias.
Yes. A film adaptation was announced with Elizabeth Banks attached to direct. As of 2025, the project remains in development.
The Grace Year was written by Kim Liggett, published in 2019 by St. Martin's Press.
The Grace Year is 420 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Grace Year takes most readers 6 to 9 hours to finish.
The Grace Year is a standalone novel by Kim Liggett, not part of a series.
The Grace Year is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
