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The Challengers
The Challengers are a family caught up in struggles that threaten to tear their world apart. Grace Livingston Hill is the beloved author of more than 100 books. Read and enjoyed by millions, her wholesome stories contain adventure, romance, and the heartwarming triumphs of people faced with the problems of life and love.
247 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1932
78 people are currently reading
194 people want to read
About the author
Grace Livingston Hill
595 books571 followersalso wrote under the pseudonym Marcia MacDonald
also published under the name Grace Livingston Hill Lutz
A popular author of her day, she wrote over 100 novels and numerous short stories of religious and Christian fiction. Her characters were most often young female ingénues, frequently strong Christian women or those who become so within the confines of the story.
niece to Isabella MacDonald Alden
also published under the name Grace Livingston Hill Lutz
A popular author of her day, she wrote over 100 novels and numerous short stories of religious and Christian fiction. Her characters were most often young female ingénues, frequently strong Christian women or those who become so within the confines of the story.
niece to Isabella MacDonald Alden
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
May 10, 2021
I think this is one of my favorite books, simply because there is so much family to get to know. I love when Grace opens the doors and lets us see a group of siblings coming together, especially on behalf of a parent who needs so much for them to manage things for a little while. The thrifty spirit, the way they all work together to pull off the impossible is a delight. Yes, as usual, the world offers a certain amount of temptations, with a looming disaster. But all comes right in the end, and all that diligence and hard work, and of course unwavering faith (ok it wavers. But it steadies out in the end) is rewarded beyond measure.
Truly lovely book with hints of a double romance. Oh, I wish she had written more about the Challengers to let us know what happens next!
Truly lovely book with hints of a double romance. Oh, I wish she had written more about the Challengers to let us know what happens next!
March 1, 2023
Very nice. Very heartwarming, Very Christian.
I enjoyed reading this novel about the Challenger family. They certainly were challenged by hardships and poverty! The story takes place during the Great Depression and was first published in 1932. This novel spoke to the people of that time, showing them the path through poverty into faith and hope.
Mr. Challenger had a big family - a wife and five children. Unfortunately he lost his job as a college professor when he became sick and was hospitalized for months. His wife lost the family home and their bank account. The bank with their safe deposit box, which contained money, was closed. This woman was left in dire poverty trying to relocate the children and at the same time, trying to visit her husband daily while pretending nothing was wrong. His doctor said he couldn't handle the stress in his delicate condition.
All the characters in this book are well thought out. Each child is an individual and the family works together to make it through their crisis. I very much enjoyed reading the story.
One thing I like about the Grace Livingston Hill Christian fiction is that she makes no attempt to hide her Christianity. The books are written to give her readers spiritual education and edification. So many books that are called Christian fiction today barely touch on the salvation of Jesus Christ.
I rarely start crying because of books these days but at the end when a character read from Psalm 34, I did cry a little. That's one of my favorite psalms; it has given me such a lot of comfort during my hard times, I was overcome with emotion when I saw it there.
Great book, anyhow. I know everything's a little dated, even the writing style, but that's to be expected with a book from the 1930's. I hope you'll read it.
I read this with a group here on Goodreads: Grace Livingston Hill Fans.
I enjoyed reading this novel about the Challenger family. They certainly were challenged by hardships and poverty! The story takes place during the Great Depression and was first published in 1932. This novel spoke to the people of that time, showing them the path through poverty into faith and hope.
Mr. Challenger had a big family - a wife and five children. Unfortunately he lost his job as a college professor when he became sick and was hospitalized for months. His wife lost the family home and their bank account. The bank with their safe deposit box, which contained money, was closed. This woman was left in dire poverty trying to relocate the children and at the same time, trying to visit her husband daily while pretending nothing was wrong. His doctor said he couldn't handle the stress in his delicate condition.
All the characters in this book are well thought out. Each child is an individual and the family works together to make it through their crisis. I very much enjoyed reading the story.
One thing I like about the Grace Livingston Hill Christian fiction is that she makes no attempt to hide her Christianity. The books are written to give her readers spiritual education and edification. So many books that are called Christian fiction today barely touch on the salvation of Jesus Christ.
I rarely start crying because of books these days but at the end when a character read from Psalm 34, I did cry a little. That's one of my favorite psalms; it has given me such a lot of comfort during my hard times, I was overcome with emotion when I saw it there.
Great book, anyhow. I know everything's a little dated, even the writing style, but that's to be expected with a book from the 1930's. I hope you'll read it.
I read this with a group here on Goodreads: Grace Livingston Hill Fans.
April 16, 2016
My favorite parts were the details of life in the early 1930s. :)
November 13, 2021
Rating: 3.5 / 5
In terms of content, I'd say that the closest similarity would be between this book and Job's Niece. Because ho-ho-holy goodness, the Challenger family just seems to have trouble after trouble in their situation! Not only do they have their beloved patriarch sick in a hospital, but they themselves are on the verge of starving to death, being evicted out of their shoddy apartment, and then trouble after trouble just seems to keep following them throughout the story.
Yeah, that lawyer that's supposed to come and make everything better, like the caption says? Well, you'd assume that putting it in the caption means that this happens earlier on in the story, but that's wrong. It comes almost near the end, and until then we're gifted with reading about this family's troubles and how they're questioning faith--all except for the littlest innocent, Rosalie, who continues to pray--and all that jazz.
Not what I expected, in other words, and it was discouraging to have this family tested in so many ways. I get it, that it was the Great Depression when Hill wrote this book and so this was the truth of many families at the time, but still, in my fiction works, I prefer to be cheered up, not bummed out.
Maybe my expectations of this novel and the fact that I'm just barely getting past a prolonged hard time is clouding my judgement on this, but I'm sorry, I really wished that the good things could've happened to this family sooner. I was debating rating this up to a 4 stars since it's technically tolerable, but in the end I decided that just as the story was harsh on these characters, so I must be harsh on this story. On the spectrum of Grace Livingston Hill works, this one's solidly in the middle, though tilting precariously towards the lower end.
Onto my shelves it goes, to await (perhaps) another eventual re-read.
In terms of content, I'd say that the closest similarity would be between this book and Job's Niece. Because ho-ho-holy goodness, the Challenger family just seems to have trouble after trouble in their situation! Not only do they have their beloved patriarch sick in a hospital, but they themselves are on the verge of starving to death, being evicted out of their shoddy apartment, and then trouble after trouble just seems to keep following them throughout the story.
Yeah, that lawyer that's supposed to come and make everything better, like the caption says? Well, you'd assume that putting it in the caption means that this happens earlier on in the story, but that's wrong. It comes almost near the end, and until then we're gifted with reading about this family's troubles and how they're questioning faith--all except for the littlest innocent, Rosalie, who continues to pray--and all that jazz.
Not what I expected, in other words, and it was discouraging to have this family tested in so many ways. I get it, that it was the Great Depression when Hill wrote this book and so this was the truth of many families at the time, but still, in my fiction works, I prefer to be cheered up, not bummed out.
Maybe my expectations of this novel and the fact that I'm just barely getting past a prolonged hard time is clouding my judgement on this, but I'm sorry, I really wished that the good things could've happened to this family sooner. I was debating rating this up to a 4 stars since it's technically tolerable, but in the end I decided that just as the story was harsh on these characters, so I must be harsh on this story. On the spectrum of Grace Livingston Hill works, this one's solidly in the middle, though tilting precariously towards the lower end.
Onto my shelves it goes, to await (perhaps) another eventual re-read.
May 7, 2024
3.5 stars
July 10, 2023
The Challengersw
As a teenager I read many of Grace Livingston Hills books. They were filled with colorful characters who. had problems and the story of salvation. It m are me change my thoughts about religion.As a senior citizen I am enjoying them again. They are timeless treasures. Dorothy Keefe
As a teenager I read many of Grace Livingston Hills books. They were filled with colorful characters who. had problems and the story of salvation. It m are me change my thoughts about religion.As a senior citizen I am enjoying them again. They are timeless treasures. Dorothy Keefe
January 17, 2012
I like these clean Christian romances by Grace Livingston Hill; however, I will say that her good characters are almost too perfect and her bad ones horribly evil, which can make them amusing although that's not the intent.
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January 25, 2008Hill, Grace Livingston
July 10, 2014
One of my favs.
March 8, 2023
The Challengers by Grace Livingston Hill is an absolutely charming Christian novel written in a bygone age.
Grace Livingston Hill writes with great warmth and faith as we follow a family through the hard times of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. We witness the close-knit family unit who pull together, thinking only of others before self. Along the way they meet both guardian angels and absolute rotters.
The family had had little time for God in the past. Their comfortable circumstances meant they had no need to rely on God. He seemed relegated to past times. The perception of the youngest daughter is spot on as she suggests prayer as an answer to circumstances. This reminds the reader that Jesus asks us to have a child-like faith. Pray and believe that our prayers will be answered. As our faith muscle is exercised, it will be stretched. We must “ask[ing] God to … show … what to do.” God longs to hear our prayers. Nothing is ever too big or too small for Him. If it bothers us, it bothers Him.
Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. “She would go insane if she couldn’t think that God… was the same as always.” God’s character never changes. God is love and God is faithful.
When we are down to nothing, God is up to something. When we reach rock bottom, we can be certain that God will raise us up. We need to put our faith and trust in Him.
Grace Livingston Hill wrote delightful, faith-filled novels in the past but her message is still relevant today. Her novels hold a warmth and a charm, like receiving a hug in a book. The Challengers is positively delightful.
Grace Livingston Hill writes with great warmth and faith as we follow a family through the hard times of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. We witness the close-knit family unit who pull together, thinking only of others before self. Along the way they meet both guardian angels and absolute rotters.
The family had had little time for God in the past. Their comfortable circumstances meant they had no need to rely on God. He seemed relegated to past times. The perception of the youngest daughter is spot on as she suggests prayer as an answer to circumstances. This reminds the reader that Jesus asks us to have a child-like faith. Pray and believe that our prayers will be answered. As our faith muscle is exercised, it will be stretched. We must “ask[ing] God to … show … what to do.” God longs to hear our prayers. Nothing is ever too big or too small for Him. If it bothers us, it bothers Him.
Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. “She would go insane if she couldn’t think that God… was the same as always.” God’s character never changes. God is love and God is faithful.
When we are down to nothing, God is up to something. When we reach rock bottom, we can be certain that God will raise us up. We need to put our faith and trust in Him.
Grace Livingston Hill wrote delightful, faith-filled novels in the past but her message is still relevant today. Her novels hold a warmth and a charm, like receiving a hug in a book. The Challengers is positively delightful.
July 19, 2025
2.5 stars
There were troubles upon troubles upon troubles in this book. I really got tired of reading one bad thing after another happening, and no one, except the youngest, seems to believe in God anymore. And then when they did, it was almost like it was all because they couldn't do anything else so they prayed and then God answered them. There are some little bits of help and then more troubles come. And then BAM! Everything-is-all-right-the-end.
It was too much trouble and too little resolution at the end for me to really like the book. The characters were okay. It does seem that the good characters are good, and the not good characters are really bad in here. There really weren’t any normal people.
I know this was written near the beginning of the depression, but it just seemed strange that the family who was one step away from starving because they didn’t have money for food and didn’t know when or how they would get more, would spend what little they have and make dessert. Would they really? Or was that just the author’s idea because of course everyone had to eat dessert then.
There were troubles upon troubles upon troubles in this book. I really got tired of reading one bad thing after another happening, and no one, except the youngest, seems to believe in God anymore. And then when they did, it was almost like it was all because they couldn't do anything else so they prayed and then God answered them. There are some little bits of help and then more troubles come. And then BAM! Everything-is-all-right-the-end.
It was too much trouble and too little resolution at the end for me to really like the book. The characters were okay. It does seem that the good characters are good, and the not good characters are really bad in here. There really weren’t any normal people.
I know this was written near the beginning of the depression, but it just seemed strange that the family who was one step away from starving because they didn’t have money for food and didn’t know when or how they would get more, would spend what little they have and make dessert. Would they really? Or was that just the author’s idea because of course everyone had to eat dessert then.
September 3, 2022
I know I read this a long time ago, but I had completely forgotten what happens so it was like reading a new book! I love it when that happens!
I absolutely loved this one by GLH. In many ways it reminded me of The Enchanted Barn.
I had forgotten how much I enjoy reading GLH books and how she is so upfront with her spiritual threads. In this book, especially, the talk about prayer and God was a natural part of the storyline rather than being preachy.
Great book! I’m so glad this came out in eBook.
I absolutely loved this one by GLH. In many ways it reminded me of The Enchanted Barn.
I had forgotten how much I enjoy reading GLH books and how she is so upfront with her spiritual threads. In this book, especially, the talk about prayer and God was a natural part of the storyline rather than being preachy.
Great book! I’m so glad this came out in eBook.
September 3, 2022
I know I read this a long time ago, but I had completely forgotten what happens so it was like reading a new book! I love it when that happens!
I absolutely loved this one by GLH. In many ways it reminded me of The Enchanted Barn.
I had forgotten how much I enjoy reading GLH books and how she is so upfront with her spiritual threads. In this book, especially, the talk about prayer and God was a natural part of the storyline rather than being preachy.
Great book! I’m so glad this came out in eBook.
I absolutely loved this one by GLH. In many ways it reminded me of The Enchanted Barn.
I had forgotten how much I enjoy reading GLH books and how she is so upfront with her spiritual threads. In this book, especially, the talk about prayer and God was a natural part of the storyline rather than being preachy.
Great book! I’m so glad this came out in eBook.
Read
January 17, 2023A very emotional and tribulation filled story.
So many heart felt experiences brought to light in the story of this wonderful large family. All of us need to be filled with the beauty of our Savior that they found.
So many heart felt experiences brought to light in the story of this wonderful large family. All of us need to be filled with the beauty of our Savior that they found.
February 19, 2025
A Tale of Faith and True Fortune
What a wonderful story to warm the heart in this cold season! The Challengers find their strength in the Lord while He teaches them to rely on Him in exceptionally trying circumstances. A wonderful lesson for us all.
What a wonderful story to warm the heart in this cold season! The Challengers find their strength in the Lord while He teaches them to rely on Him in exceptionally trying circumstances. A wonderful lesson for us all.
August 16, 2019
I LOVED this book. I can't believe if never read it before.
June 30, 2020
Intriguing story
Another charming old fashioned story, almost a Rags to riches. Lots of sweet details. A family learns to trust God when they face hardships.
Another charming old fashioned story, almost a Rags to riches. Lots of sweet details. A family learns to trust God when they face hardships.
October 25, 2020
This is not a romance per say but the story of a family and their journey to faith.
February 22, 2023
What a fun book....and the challenges this family faces to get to a great ending. Wait till you see what they end up getting.
March 10, 2023
Really sweet family story taking place during the depression.
April 25, 2024
Another story to cheer you!
I’m so thankful for GLH and her books, each of them providing a safe haven where we can read and rest and have our Savior exalted all at the same time.
I’m so thankful for GLH and her books, each of them providing a safe haven where we can read and rest and have our Savior exalted all at the same time.
February 28, 2022
Great book about a family in hardship turning to the Lord! Not a lot of romance, which I liked, but a lot of drama. The characters were decently fleshed out, and we got to see glimpses into all the siblings lives, which was a nice change of pace. (See, Grace? You can focus more on character development when you put in less insta-love!)
Overall, a very nice read, and I would re-read. It was less fluffy than The Enchanted Barn (which also deals with similar issues of poverty), so it won't be as easy to re-read (what can I say? I'm a lazy re-reader), but definitely worth it!
Overall, a very nice read, and I would re-read. It was less fluffy than The Enchanted Barn (which also deals with similar issues of poverty), so it won't be as easy to re-read (what can I say? I'm a lazy re-reader), but definitely worth it!
December 29, 2025
FYI, this is not a romance. It is the story of a family with one problem after another in the Depression and how they overcame it with God’s help. They had been trying to depend on themselves for everything, but after they started trusting God, they realized how he began to help them. I like the historical setting, but at the time, it was the modern day.
August 10, 2016
One of the best books I have ever read! The family just drew me in and touched my heart.
September 18, 2021
A little slow getting started. The first half was a somewhat depressing read, but I loved to read how God answered their prayers in the second half. (It kinda reminded me of the book of Job.)
September 22, 2018
Another one of Ms. Hill's great books. It is truly awesome to see how little things have changes. Oh, of course, prices are different, but the core is the same. She does tend to have a theme. Father or Mother is ill or in hospital. Brothers who aren't quite there yet. Maybe off with a not so nice woman or drinking or something. Young daughter(s) who meet young men, and one or the other of them is a Christian, and leads the other to the Lord. Usually they are down on their luck, and have to rely on God to help them. Something nice inevitably happens, and they all live happily ever after. But, it works. I can recommend this book.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews