Christian Fiction Devourers discussion

Shadowed by Grace is a dramatic story inspired by the Monuments Men of World War II by acclaimed author Cara C. Putman. Desperate to save her dying mother, Rachel accepts her newspaper’s assignment to travel to Italy to capture images dangerously close to the front lines of WWII. Her real motive – to find the father she never knew -- an artist she hopes can offer the comfort and support both she and her mother need to survive. It’s an unlikely situation for love and faith to flourish, but soon Rachel not only finds herself, but also her long-lost earthly father, and ultimately, the man her Heavenly father created to cherish and provide for her.

I am especially excited to read this book as I just watched the Monuments Men movie last month. Who's going to be joining me?

I'm going to try, but it will be later in the month. This will be a reread for me, and I'm excited to revisit this story.

I'm joining!

Great! Glad you will both be joining in.

I plan on joining, I've put my request in at the library.

I'm joining in on my first group read. I'm not a fast reader though so I hope I'll have it finished or nearly finished by the end of the month.

Welcome, Julie!

Glad to have you Julie and Jackie!

I was poking around looking for award winners for our monthly challenge and in checking Christian Retailing's Best Awards found this book as a winner for 2016. So be sure to count it there if you're on the buddy read here!

Thanks Hannah. I couldn't find anything for it so didn't mark it. I will do that right now.

Loraine wrote: "I am especially excited to read this book as I just watched the Monuments Men movie last month. Who's going to be joining me?"
The timing of the movie's release was amazing. I already had the contract to write this book, but we moved the release date to tie more closely to the movie.

Andrea wrote: "I'm going to try, but it will be later in the month. This will be a reread for me, and I'm excited to revisit this story."

You are such a cheerleader to me, Andrea. Thank you!

Hannah wrote: "I was poking around looking for award winners for our monthly challenge and in checking Christian Retailing's Best Awards found this book as a winner for 2016. So be sure to count it there if you'r..."

I was humbled (and thrilled) when it got that award. It was such an honor!

I am thrilled to help, Cara!

Cara, any news if there is going to be another book in this series? I notice it says "#1" in the title.

I'm just over half way through reading the book and I'm really enjoying it so far.

Hannah wrote: "Cara, any news if there is going to be another book in this series? I notice it says "#1" in the title."
It was supposed to be the first of three, but the publisher stopped publishing fiction. My dream is to write book two and three on my own. Maybe next summer I'll get one of them written.

Julie NZ wrote: "I'm just over half way through reading the book and I'm really enjoying it so far."

So glad you are enjoying it! This book will always be special to me!

Ooh, Cara, if you do write more in the Shadowed series, I will be reading them for sure. I'd love to proof or copy edit them for you, should you need me to. If not, that's fine too, as I'll love reading them just for fun in that case. :)

I hope you do write more in this series Cara. It is such a little known part of WWII history. I'll volunteer to be an ARC reviewer! But I will definitely read them!

I would also be begging for a reviewer slot! Haha....seriously, I do hope that you have time soon for the other two in the series.

Loraine wrote: "I hope you do write more in this series Cara. It is such a little known part of WWII history. I'll volunteer to be an ARC reviewer! But I will definitely read them!"

I knew nothing about this part of WWII history. I wasn't taught anything about it in school here in NZ.

Julie, I wasn't taught anything about it here in America, either, and it was our boys who were majorly involved. Not sure why they were so hidden until recently...

I agree I knew nothing about it til I watched the movie and then read this book. I so admire this group of men for what they did to help save the art and church treasures of Europe.

Here are the discussion questions for this book.

1, Rachel Justice is on an impossible journey. Have you ever bee thrust on a journey where success seemed impossible?

2. Rachel's mother tells her to leave her father alone, but Rachel can't. Have you ever faced a situation where you chose to directly go against a parent's instruction? How did it affect your relationship? Feel free to answer any or all or bring up something you would like to discuss.

3. Rachel travels to Italy during World War II for the love of a parent. Do you think she made the right decision? Why or why not?

4. Many of us have experienced abandonment and pain at the hands of those who should love us. How do you recover from that?

5. Rachel has a hard time seeing God as a Father who loves her and would lay down His life for her. Do you think our image of God is affected when a parent is absent in our lives?

6. Scott is a man on a mission. Do you think his mission (saving Western Civilization) was a valid one in time of war?

7. Which character did you find yourself relating to more: Rachel or Scott? What drew you to that character?

8. Scott and Rachel find each other during a high-stress, adrenaline-laced time in their lives. In your experience is that a good time to form a relationship? Should they take any precautions? If so, how would you advise Rachel to proceed?

9. Which of the characters would you like to get to know better? Why?

Just got started today and love it already!

Glad to hear that Hannah. I loved this book. We have a book club here at our Senior Living Complex. It meets this Thursday. Instead of all reading the same book, we share whatever we just read that we think the others might enjoy. Great way to learn about new books. I am sharing this one because several of the group love books that are set in WWII especially one of our fellows who is 97 (still active and walks 2 miles daily) and was an Air Force pilot in WWII. We call our group: Coffee, Tea, and Books. Everyone brings their favorite drink , and we share books and have a good time talking about them.

Loraine, that sounds like a wonderful group. I love the approach!

They used to have a book Club, Andrea, that all discussed the same book; but it fell apart because not everyone liked to read the same thing. So another lady and I started this one, and it's gone well.

I understand that. Sometimes I'm just not in the mood to read what others are, and other times my life is too busy to get to a planned-out buddy read. I've got one right now with Hannah that I've had to shove off three times. I hope she'll still want to read it with me when I can finally get to it next month. :)

I'm really happy that your friend and you figured out a book club that will work for everyone. It sounds like you get to hear about lots of different books this new way. Enjoy!

I really enjoyed this book and learning about WW2 and the Monuments Men. About 13 years ago my husband and I went on a bus tour round part of Europe which included going to Rome and Florence so it was great reading about these places during this time period.

I liked Rachel and felt for her with her being torn between being with her mum and trying to help her. I also liked Scott and was pleased that he was very protective of Rachel.

This was the first book that I've read by Cara and I plan to read more books by her.

Julie, this is the book that hooked me into Cara's books too. Now I've read all these and loved them as well:

And I'm currently in the middle of this one (and it's good too):

That's great. I saw your review of A Promise Kept and I put it on my TBR. :)

Awesome! Thanks for sharing that, Julie. It's always great to hear when my reviews make a positive impact.

I really like how you review books saying the positive and the negative things about a book. I like to know about negative content about a book so I can decide whether to read it or not.

Aw! Thank you so much for those kind words, Julie. I'm the same way. I often look for negative content in reviews for that same reason. You just made my day, friend. Thank you!