45 pages • 1 hour read
Fran LittlewoodAmazing Grace Adams
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Grace Adams
Content Warning: This section references the death of a child and sexual assault.
Grace Adams is the novel’s protagonist. In the narrative present, Grace is 45 years old and has recently begun menopause, so descriptions of her physical discomfort pervade the narrative. This discomfort is merely one way in which Grace experiences Aging as a Form of Loss. Her teenage daughter’s youth and beauty are constant reminders that Grace is getting older and losing her cultural currency. She is self-conscious about her appearance, disgusted by “the fleshy overhang that encircles her waist” and “her hair threaded with gray above her ears” (131), but she feels too discouraged to amend it.
Grace is married to Ben Kerr. In the narrative present, the two are separated, the death of their daughter Bea having fractured their relationship. Because Grace was watching Bea play at the time of her death, she blames herself and has yet to heal from her loss. The frequent narrative shifts between the past and present suggest Grace’s struggle to move beyond the past. An avoidant and defensive character, Grace has tried to compartmentalize her sorrow, grief, and guilt. These defense mechanisms have only augmented her pain, yet they remain Grace’s default response to internal or external conflict; in the more recent past, for example, she largely sought to ignore evidence that Lotte was struggling rather than confront her and risk a falling-out.
Grace is an intellectual, a polyglot, a teacher, and a translator. When she was young, these passions defined her sense of self. In the narrative present, she is experiencing a crisis of identity. She loses both of her jobs, fails to communicate effectively with her family despite her linguistic capacities, and feels “ugly,” irrelevant, and invisible. Because she did not initially want children, she resists adopting Motherhood as an Identity; her perceived failures with Bea and Lotte have merely reinforced her conviction that she is “a terrible mother” (159). However, Grace’s attempts to protect Lotte throughout the novel suggest otherwise. Grace proves herself capable of repenting, apologizing, and changing by the novel’s end.
Lotte Kerr
Lotte Kerr, Grace and Ben’s first child, is a secondary character. In the narrative present, Lotte is 16 years old. When Lotte was eight, her little sister Bea died when she was hit by a bus. This tragedy impacted the entire family, but Lotte’s parents never discussed the matter with her, and as a teenager, Lotte continues to blame her mother for what happened.
Lotte’s secretive behaviors and moody demeanor reflect this sorrow and frustration, as well as the additional grief caused by Grace and Ben’s separation. Due to her young age and the atmosphere of silence in which she has grown up, she struggles to express these emotions. In Chapter 35, she references her parental situation for the first time while out for dinner with Ben. Crying, Lotte remarks, “I wish you’d never split up […] I miss you, Daddy” (148). This rare moment of vulnerability from Lotte conveys her youth and fragility. Though she often pulls away from Grace and Ben, trying to convince them that she doesn’t need them, Lotte has quietly internalized her parents’ tumultuous relationship.
Lotte’s absences from school, her social media obsession, and her affair with her teacher are all manifestations of her pain. She is testing her parents and other authority figures by adopting adult-like behaviors. In reality, Lotte is still a child and longs for her mother’s support and father’s love.
Lotte’s relationship with Grace is at the heart of the latter’s character arc. Lotte’s behavior has long troubled Grace, but she struggled to find a way to connect with her daughter. Revealing Lotte’s relationship with Nate to the school was the act of a protective parent, but the betrayal of Lotte’s trust pushed the relationship to a breaking point. Throughout the novel, Grace’s main motivation is to win Lotte back, and the conclusion suggests that mother and daughter have in fact reconciled.
Ben Kerr
Ben Kerr is another secondary character. He is Grace Adams’s husband and Lotte Kerr’s father. In the narrative present, Ben is separated from Grace, his grief over Bea’s death having driven him to infidelity, which allowed him to escape his sorrow, anger, and confusion. This coping mechanism resembles his wife’s efforts to compartmentalize the loss.
Ben is the only point-of-view character besides Grace, and the chapters that focus on his perspective reveal his efforts to navigate his complicated family dynamics. Grace frequently contacts him about Lotte’s behaviors and moods, and though Ben displays less active worry than his wife, he does intercede when Grace gets overwhelmed. When Grace informs Ben about Lotte and Nate, Ben becomes even more involved in his daughter’s life, letting Lotte live with him during her feud with Grace. Nevertheless, Ben strives not to pick a “side” in the disagreement; ultimately, he wants to be the peacemaker and has tried to play this role throughout his marriage to Grace. It is only during times of extreme personal turmoil—e.g., following his mother’s death, which reminds him of Bea’s—that his emotions interfere with his ability to stay strong for Grace and Lotte.
Ben is an intellectual and an academic who was attracted to Grace for her similarly sharp mind. The longer the two are together, however, the more Ben loses sight of the Grace he knew. He knows Grace is devastated over Bea and confused about her career, but he wishes that Grace would make different choices. He misses the woman with whom he fell in love. This version of Grace resurfaces at the novel’s end, affording Ben new hope.
Nate Karlsson
Nate Karlsson is a minor character and one of the novel’s antagonists. When Grace first meets him, she is taken by Nate’s handsomeness and charm. She tries to dismiss these thoughts because Nate is her daughter’s teacher. However, whenever Grace runs into him, her attraction to Nate resurfaces. This attraction to Nate is part of why she sees the best in him. Nate seems like an understanding and kindhearted educator. The first time Grace speaks to him, she regards him as a confidant and an ally. She thinks that Nate sees her in a way other teachers and parents don’t and hopes Nate will support her in parenting Lotte.
Grace’s desires and wishes cloud her judgment, causing her to miss Nate’s nefarious intentions. She wants to believe that she can trust Nate, and she wants to believe that a younger, attractive man would find her desirable. She is therefore shocked when she discovers Nate with Lotte after the community event at the park. She cannot believe that a grown man would take advantage of her child and is even more horrified when she learns that Nate has had similarly abusive relationships with other students at his previous schools. In her feelings of anger and betrayal, she breaks her promise to Lotte and reports him to the school. Lotte is initially upset with Grace because she thinks she and Nate are in love. However, Grace’s actions bring Nate to justice.
