Confession: I haven't read much Christian fiction in recent years.
Over time I got used to those glossy covers of blushing prairie brides who've met their beloved and readily sail into the sunset, and while I could in theory feel (slight) happiness for them, I couldn't altogether relate.
I could relate with the butterflies in my stomach, "is he looking my way," excitement so portrayed in young love, but not so much with the common lack of internal hardship from cover to cover. Perhaps
the protagonist experienced drought or famine on the farm (which I can't minimize), but why wasn't I reading about her inner turmoil, her feelings of doubt and unworthiness? Her less than beautiful moments as a human being?
It seemed that one of these characters bled into the next: she would straighten her bonnet straps and wear a hardy smile. If a character made a less than moral choice, let it be her best friend (only), and let her be the one to return that friend to grace or reveal it for the very first time.
It would be unfair of me to write off the many authors whose works I've never read. I'm merely observing a trend. If you're someone who enjoys such a series, there is undoubtedly good to be gained. I'm just someone who prefers a more tried and true story that aligns closer to my experience of feeling from a young age that life packs punches, that sometimes the guy you first love
will fall for someone else, that sometimes it takes a long time to realize your own worth and beauty because of what you've been through along the way.
Through my teen years I began reading Francine Rivers, and my respect for her grew as I realized she wasn't afraid to tackle the hard. She didn't write in struggles with everything from personal worth to premarital sex to abortion to divorce for the sake of being provocative. She wrote these subjects in
because she knows that behind a lot of the front we give people, these are the tangible issues we're wrestling with in our homes. Or if we're not, someone close to us probably is.
That's not to say that every read of hers feels "gritty" or "dark" in the least. Through a lot of trials her characters face, the reader can see how much more significant in His grace. That He doesn't leave us or forsake us when the going gets tough. That He is strength in our weakness, Light that overshadows darkness in its many forms. Think of Moses, Noah, Elijah, Mary, Peter and their many nuances.
Because of writers like Rivers, I'm encouraged to write characters and story lines that speak to readers and have them seeing where strength is drawn. While Rivers isn't the only spiritual writer to have mastered this art form, she's one of the first I've encountered, and what a difference her voice has meant to so many.
