Christian Fiction Devourers discussion

Uncovering a long-lost family story is the only way to bring her grandmother peace.

Kieran Lucas's grandmother is slipping into dementia, and, when her memory is gone, Kieran's last tie to the family she barely knows will be lost forever. Worse, Granny Mac is being tormented by flashbacks of her mother’s death and the loss of their home.

In 1931, Rosie McCauley's Smoky Mountains home is threatened by the Tennessee Great Smokies Park Commission as they create a new national park. But Rosie vows the only way they'll get her land is if they haul her out in a pine box. When a compromise offers her and her disabled sister the opportunity to stay for her lifetime, it seems too good to be true.

Ornithologist Benton Fuller arrives to conduct a bird survey for the park and the two form a tenuous bond. But their friendship broadens a rift between her and the other mountain folk who are suspicious of any government connections. Then the discovery of an illegal still in the woods near her cabin leads to a violent clash between sides that could destroy them all.

Eighty-five years later, Kieran heads back to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to find answers to her great-grandmother's mysterious death and bring peace to Granny Mac before it's too late. Park Historian Zach Jensen may be the key to locating both the answers and a precious family heirloom. But just as in the past, Kieran's needs clash with government regulations. Will Zach block her from recovering what she needs and solving this family mystery?



Who's joining for this month's book of the month? It's a Christy Award Finalist!

I started reading this one yesterday. So far, I am enjoying it.

Missy wrote: "I started reading this one yesterday. So far, I am enjoying it."

Wonderful Missy! I enjoyed it as well.

I got the book in September, I will start reading it hopefully this weekend and catch up…. Xo

MissyTexas wrote: "I got the book in September, I will start reading it hopefully this weekend and catch up…. Xo"

Excellent! We'll begin discussing with spoilers on the 15th so you may want to avoid this thread until you finish. :-)

What amazes me is that I picked this book up towards the beginning of October ... and then I found out recently that
When Stone Wings Fly is on the Christy Finalist List!

Way to go, Karen!

I loved seeing that this is a finalist in the Christies!
I read it earlier this month and look forward to the conversation.

Gave it one of my rare 5 ⭐️ ratings!

Wonderful 5 star read!

I'm only a few chapters in but will catch up. It's certainly an engaging story; drama from page one!

Well worth the read, glad it was recommended. Thanks

I LOVED this book!

Great to see all the love for When Stone Wings Fly!

I didn't see any discussion questions at the end of the book. Does anyone have any parts in particular to bring up for discussion?

“She was continually bringing folks into their house, and if anyone questioned her, she’d point to the verse in the Bible about entertaining angels. Maybe he’d look up that Scripture tomorrow morning during his prayer time.”

Anyone else besides me go look up and read the verse?

There were song references in the book that I even went out to YouTube to listen to the songs before continuing on reading. I felt deeply immersed into this book.

I loved the old hymns she referenced as I grew up singing a lot of them. (Yes that gives away that I am a senior!)

Thanks Missy and Loraine for your comments. I love when a book inspires you to look something up.

Thanks to Loraine for finding a document with discussion questions.

Here are several discussion questions for us. Please answer as few or as many as you'd like.

1. Many people have said When Stone Wings Fly is an intriguing
title. When you first picked up the book, what did you think it
meant? Did that change over the course of the story?

2. Rosie McCauley was determined to protect her family's land and yet she chose to take the offer of the lifetime lease. Why did she make this choice? Would you have made the same decision?

3. When one of Kieran's clients discovers that Kieran grew up in
foster care, she says, “Oh, child. No wonder you're so untethered."
Each of the female characters experience the loss of a home--even back to Rosie's Cherokee great-grandmother. How does that sense of place/security affect a person as they're growing up? Do you still feel a connection to the land of your birth?

4. When the story opens, Benton longs to be recognized for his work and seeks fulfillment in his job. But even though he's given the post of his dreams, he realizes his heart belongs in the Smokies with Rosie. When you look back at your lifetime dreams and goals, are there some that you sacrificed for another path? Are you satisfied with those choices?

5. Rosie and Benton lose three babies in three years. Can you
imagine that level of grief? It wasn't uncommon to lose infants in
this era, but do you think that knowledge made it any easier to
bear? Do you think the grief is the same now, or different because
we're less prepared for it?

6. Benton and Rosie's decision to raise Mac as their own might seem unusual by today's standards. Do you think they did the right thing? How else could they have handled Lorna's situation? Should Mac have been told the truth? Kieran faces the same dilemma at the end of the story. Would you tell Granny Mac the truth at this point in her life?

7. What do you think the torn quilt represents? Does it change
throughout the story?

8. Both Kieran and Rosie struggle with holding onto their desires
too tightly. God calls us to open our hands so He can fill them. What things do you tend to hold too tightly? Take a look at 1 John 2:15-17. What does John say about it?

9. Which scene or character did you identify with the most? Why?

10. Read Proverbs 3:5-6. How was Zach's obsession with rules a
misinterpretation of this verse? Was he really trusting God?

11. When Benton married Rosie, do you think he had any idea what lay ahead for him? How did life's challenges shape him through the novel? Who was he in the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of his story? What about Rosie? How did she change?

12. Kieran's decision to dig up the stone bird was a costly one. What price did she pay for this choice? Would you have dug it up or let it be?

1. Many people have said When Stone Wings Fly is an intriguing
title. When you first picked up the book, what did you think it
meant? Did that change over the course of the story?

Confession time: I was pretty dense about catching on to the significance of the title. It took about 250 pages for me to get the "aha" moment of the stone bird representing the need to turn loose of that which we treasure in order to "fly" to the next and better place.

2. Rosie McCauley was determined to protect her family's land and yet she chose to take the offer of the lifetime lease. Why did she make this choice?

This choice allowed Rosie to continue living with the least amount of change and to maintain at least a temporary grasp on that which she thought she must hold onto.

Would you have made the same decision? Yes, I probably would have. Choosing the unknown over the comfortable is hard! Those moments take great faith that we must grow into.

6. Should Mac have been told the truth? That is a really tough question. Is the full story (aka the truth) always the best option?
At that time, I would have probably chosen to not tell Mac the truth of who her mom was. But in today's world, I think I would have told her because of the high potential in this info/data age of Mac discovering the truth on her own later in life. So does this make me a situational truth teller? Hmmm...not sure I like that revelation about myself!

Kieran faces the same dilemma at the end of the story. Would you tell Granny Mac the truth at this point in her life? No, I would not.

7. What do you think the torn quilt represents?

The torn quilt was, perhaps, one of the most interesting concepts woven through the story. I think it primarily represents torn, imperfect relationships that are in some way comforting none the less (Lorna's relationship with Will, Rosie's relationship with her land, Kieran's relationship with Mac, Mac's relationship with Lorna, etc.) Like Lorna, we hold so tight to these tatters and scraps because they are familiar and in our limited understanding bring what we think is the best consolation available. What are we giving up by holding on?

Personal comments: Like Zach, I am a rule follower by nature. It has taken me decades to learn to be more gracious than judgmental (much longer than it took Zach to learn this!). My journey has made me deeply grateful for the precious gift of unlimited grace and forgiveness from our Lord.

I enjoyed the spiritual applications of this book, as well as the split time style of writing. This style of writing really drives home the effects of past generations on who we are today and the realization that we will (to some extent) shape future generations.

Thanks for the therapy session. :-)

Janet wrote: "1. Many people have said When Stone Wings Fly is an intriguing
title. When you first picked up the book, what did you think it
meant? Did that change over the course of the story?

Confession time:..."

I love your answer to #1 as I didn't catch on to til much later also.

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts Janet!

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the storyline!

When I first saw the title, I wasn’t sure what to think. All I could think of is a stone bird as part of architecture. I was fascinated at what the bird represented.

The one thing that Rosie loved more than their land was her family. She was willing to release the land in order to provide more for her sister. What a beautiful example of sacrafice!

I think we all have that desire to be rooted or grounded and to belong. It is easy to feel forgotten by this world and to feel alone. But in Christ we are rooted. Returning to God is returning to our roots.

I have not lost any babies. I cannot even imagine the depths of the sense of loss and the grief that Rosie and Benton experienced. I know that I would never survive that level of loss without wholly leaning on God.

I loved the way Kieran found exceedingly and above all that she could have imagined. She clung to Granny Mac because of a longing to belong to a family. As she learned to trust God, he gave her so much more. She was able to connect with her family history and find her future family - that with Zach!

I loved this book! Thanks for the recommendation!