“Shadowed by Grace” by Cara C. Putnam

 

 She found peace in a time of war.

Desperate to save her dying mother, an American woman accepts her newspaper’s assignment to travel to Italy where she takes photographs dangerously close to the front lines during World War II. But Rachel’s real motive in this journey is 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 at such a desperate time.

In her quest, Rachel becomes involved with what will become the Monuments Men effort to save great monuments and works of art from the Third Reich. Soon enough she will find more than she ever imagined—in war, in love, and in God.

This is by far my favorite Cara C. Putnam book.  It‘s completely fascinating.  In all the years that I’ve been studying World War II, I’ve never heard of the Monuments Men – specific members of the Allied Forces tasked with preserving special art pieces throughout Europe – and I wish that I had.  This is  a topic that I definitely want to learn more about.

Though Putnam fills in lots of historical blanks with this book.  She answers questions about who, how, and what sort of work these special men did, but she doesn’t stop there.

The Monuments Men are not the only unusual people on the front lines that she discusses in this story – the main character of this book is a female photographer who’s after telling the war’s story via pictures.  Were there female photographers so close to the front lines?  I don’t know, but with so many women serving in the war, it’s possible – and it’s an intriguing idea.

Rachel’s very quest – to find the father she never met and save her mother’s life – is a doozy.  Tracking a man whose name she doesn’t know in the midst of war with only a sketchbook as a potential clue is next to impossible, but it makes for a spectacular story, especially when you throw in a Monument Man as a love interest.

Shadowed by Grace is the absolute best World War II story I’ve read in years.  Don’t miss this one.

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