A New Wave of Christian Fiction

Hi friends and happy Wednesday! 

I read a great article by Christianity Today on the growth of Christian Fiction. If you haven’t had a chance to read the article and you’re a fan of Christian fiction, I highly recommend taking a look. 

The article focuses on the growth and range of Christian fiction over the last few years. Christian fiction started out as Christianity Today says: “novels written by evangelicals, for evangelicals, and about evangelicals living out their faith.” 

Christian fiction began with the lovely books by Grace Livingstone Hill and Janette Oke. They wrote wonderful stories, but Christian fiction has greatly expanded since then. With genres like suspense and dual time and even creepy novels by Jaime Jo Wright who was specifically mentioned in the article. 

Chris Jager, fiction buyer for Baker Book House, which is one of the largest independent Christian bookstores in the United States, says twenty-five years ago she couldn’t carry three-fourths of what they carry now. Three-fourths. That’s amazing. 

These books are not just gentle romances, though those exist and do well, but so do books dealing with far more serious struggles such as sexual abuse, trauma, addiction, and in my upcoming release, mental illness.

Avid reader, Susan Poll, says, “Christian fiction has definitely broadened its content.” 

When I read Christian fiction, I find stories with authentic characters who aren’t perfect. These characters ring true to life as none of us are perfect. They have flaws and struggle and sometimes make the wrong choices. We get to watch them grow and change throughout the story and then find a satisfying ending. An ending filled with hope, redemption, restoration, or any manner of themes that strengthen and bolster our faith.

Isn’t that what we want? Stories that give us characters we care about, that we can identify with, who struggle but we see Jesus at work in their lives and in the end, there is hope. And, just maybe, we walk away with something more than just entertainment. Maybe we walk away learning something new, deepening our faith, or seeing something from a perspective we hadn’t considered before.  

I love Christian fiction. Both reading it and writing it. I love the beauty it brings and the way it deepens my faith. Even if the faith isn’t overt, it’s still there, hidden in the covers, resonating through the story being told. There are so many wonderful Christian fiction authors and genres out there. Stories like All the Lost Places by Amanda Dykes, A Shadow in Moscow by Kathrine Reay, and A Million Little Choices by Tamera Alexander.  

I hope you’ll take the time to devour the stellar books out there. 

Question for you: 

What do you love about Christian fiction? 

As always, thanks for joining me this week 

Best, 

Dani