Fields of Grace by Hannah Luce with Robin Gaby Fisher

On May 11, 2012, twenty two year old Hannah Luce, daughter of youth evangelist Ron Luce, was the only survivor of a small plane crash. This is her story.

Hannah shares what it was like growing up evangelical, in the family whose father was the CEO of Teen Mania. See tells of seeing great miracles yet having times of questioning her faith. She got to the point of faking being an good evangelical girl, even faking speaking in tongues. She was frustrated with the Christian concept of “us” and “them.”

She shares her friendships with Austin and Garrett, guy friends so important to her. And then that fateful day in 2012 when she, Austin, Garrett and two others were flying to a Teen Mania youth rally. Her memories of the crash are vivid. Her struggles after her survival were serious. She faced the reality of the absence of her friends, the guilt of surviving, enduring flashbacks, and learning to live with her scarred skin. She felt disconnected from God. She questioned her parents' very specific religious beliefs.

In November of 2012, Hannah went back to the crash sight. There she began to experience the healing of her soul and spirit.

This is a powerful book. Hannah is honest about her youth, troubled by the confines of her parents' faith. She reveals the questioning of her religious convictions. She shares the spiritual lessons she has learned in the aftermath of the crash. “Despite what I have been through,” she writes, “mine is a story of hope. And faith.” (285)

This is a good book for college or career aged people. Many of those questioning their own Christian beliefs will identify with Hannah. They will also see God's faithfulness to Hannah and the entire Luce family. An inspirational book.

All of Hannah's proceeds from this book will go to Mirror Tree, a nonprofit she is forming to help female refugees of the world.

Hannah Luce is the daughter of Ron Luce, the youth evangelist and cofounder, with his wife Katie, of Teen mania Ministries. At twenty three, she is also the founder of Mirror Tree, a nonprofit devoted to reintegrating women refugees from the horrors of rape, genocide, civil wars, and other means of trauma by funding educational research to improve their lives. She lives in Chicago.
Robin Gaby Fisher is the author of the New York Times bestseller After the Fire. She is a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing and a member of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team. She teaches narrative journalism at Rutgers University.

Howard Books, Atria Books (divisions of Simon & Schuster, Inc.), 290 pages.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.