Paul Luckraft interviews Michele Guinness, whose latest book on the remarkable life of Grace Grattan Guinness has just been published by Hodder & Stoughton.

Have you ever had a chance discovery that has delighted and enthralled you? Have you ever got round – at last! – to clearing out the attic, and found something from the past that has intrigued you and set you off on a new path?

A Captivating Discovery

Such an experience happened to Michele recently when, preparing for her husband Peter's retirement from his parish, she discovered in the attic a trunk of letters, diaries, journals and notebooks (some over a hundred years old) which had belonged to Grace Guinness, her husband's grandmother. Not only did these documents provide an illuminating insight into the life of an exceptional woman of the period, but they also shed further light on her better-known husband, Henry Grattan Guinness, the renowned speaker and evangelist.

Michele described how she was captivated and enchanted by what she read. These were not dusty old relics but fascinating accounts, written in an engaging and often humorous style. Suddenly, part of her family history came to life in an unexpected way.

The documents Michele discovered provide an illuminating insight into the life of an exceptional woman of the Edwardian period.

An Unconventional Marriage

Grace was born in 1876 into a strict Brethren family – her father was Charles Hurditch, a gifted speaker and evangelist. But she soon developed a mind of her own and a rather rebellious streak - though in a godly way! She was never going to be conventional, hence her very unconventional marriage to Henry Grattan Guinness, the great revivalist preacher and one of the leading lights of the evangelical awakening of 1854-56. When they married, she was just 27 and he was 68! How did this happen?

Henry's first wife, Fanny, had died and in his loneliness he regularly prayed for a new companion. God answered his prayers in a remarkable fashion. One night Henry dreamt of a young lady who came and sat on his knee and kissed him! Perhaps nothing unusual there – but in his case it actually happened! The young lady in question was Grace, and they soon married.

They only had a few years together. Henry died in 1910, aged 74, but not before two sons had been born, John and Paul, when Henry was aged 70 and 72 respectively.

Ahead of Her Time

After Henry's death, Grace remained devoted to his memory and never remarried, instead she struggled to support herself and her two sons. She had no fortune so had to find work which would never be easy in a society that frowned upon a well-bred single mother going out to work. Here her rebellious streak came to her aid. Ever-defiant of social customs she became a businesswoman who ran her own hotel and engaged in other activities previously thought unsuitable for an Edwardian lady. In many ways she was ahead of her time.

Grace was never going to be conventional – that shone through in her marriage and came into its own after her husband died, leaving her as the sole provider for two young boys.

Henry was one of leading lights in the historicist school of prophecy, meaning that he looked for the actual fulfilment of prophecy in historical events. Finding Henry's old Bible, full of written notes on Daniel and Ezekiel, showed how seriously he took such prophetic portions of Scripture. From this understanding he saw ahead to the key years of Israel's re-establishment, 1917-1948, though he did not live to see it. However, Balfour, whom Henry had met, was an avid reader of his work, and no doubt influenced by it.

At the time of their marriage he was writing one of his most famous works, The Approaching End of the Age: Viewed in the Light of History, Prophecy and Science. Grace became his amanuensis, even though she had to admit she found it difficult to spell apocalypse!

A Life of Devotion

Michele is very enthusiastic about what she has learnt from Grace's life and devotion. She lived through exciting and changing times and met several outstanding Christian leaders of the day, but there were many hardships too. She never grumbled about her struggles over money and work, or having to bring up two sons on her own. Her thankfulness and faith shine through - as does her humour, which kept her going in all she did.

Grace lived through exciting and changing times with many hardships, but her memoirs are full of thankfulness, faith and humour.

Grace was also a great reader and remained open to learning new things, even into her seventies. She constantly read the Bible and heard God's voice through this. But she also read The Times daily, and at least one book a week, keeping herself well-informed on current affairs and her mind active. She could comment eruditely on several topics, including science, music and literature, as well as theology.

Curiosity Sparked

Michele has come to appreciate Grace in a new way. Little was known of her until her writings came to light – inevitably, the main family interest had been in Henry. But once Michele realised what treasures had fallen into her lap, her curiosity was sparked and it became clear that this unique collection of writings should become better known.

The book is based upon memoirs, letters and diaries, but written up by Michele in the first person, weaving them into a narrative of her life. Grace was a woman who wrote in a frank and (for her time) sometimes risqué way about her life, love, hopes and fears. Michele's book captures all of that, as well as providing an interesting cultural and historical look at the lives of the Guinness family of that period and the background of the many Christian organisations that began at the time.

This book captures something of Grace's fascinating life and character, as well as providing an interesting window in on life in the Edwardian period.

Click here to read our review of Michele's book.

Ian Farley reviews 'Grace' by Michele Guinness (2016, Hodder & Stoughton, 380 pages, hardback, available from Amazon for £15.90)

It is often commented today that we are in a world which is changing rapidly and dramatically, especially in the field of technology. But Grace Grattan Guinness, born in the first rush of railways but when the horse was still the main form of transport, and yet dying after international flight had arrived, surely saw unimaginable change throughout her life.

Grace lived through the struggles of the Suffragettes and witnessed great changes to women's education and birth control. Also living through the height of the British Empire, she died in 1969, in the throes of its dismantling.

So how did a child raised in the revival of the mid-Victorian era, who lived through two world wars and on into the swinging sixties, actually think? What of faith when you are widowed after only seven years of marriage to a great evangelist and have two little boys to bring up alone? What of life when you need to do a day job and a night job in order to survive, especially in an era when well-bred women did not go out to work?

This is a marvellous book. Michele Guinness writes in the words of Grace herself and very successfully brings her to life. One can but weep with her as she struggles in her loss and laugh with her in older age as she surveys the antics of the modern world.

Depressed by the climate of Scotland and wondering how anyone can thrive in Leeds, Grace is not some pie-in-the-sky Victorian hero - she is a real woman, who faces real life in both joy and hardship and through it all finds God at her side. Her life is worth knowing. It can only cheer you on the way.

You can read more about Grace's story in our interview with her granddaughter-in-law, Michele Guinness.