Church Library Online: Christian Chick Lit

Formulaic Christian Romances & Post Modern Feminist Twists

Evelyn Smith

Ph. D. in English, Texas Christian University (1995)

M.S. In Library Science, University of North Texas (2012)

Romance novels based upon women of the Bible, like Marjorie Holmes classic Two from Galilee (1972) and Diana Wallis Taylor's Journey to the Well (2009), often retell a familiar tale in a way that will appeal to women who appreciate a love story, but who also want to read a novel centered around protagonists who struggle with some of the same contemporary problems they encounter. While these stories often twist the original Bible story, so readers can better relate to the protagonists, contemporary Christian romances, such as Karen Kingsbury's Angels Walking (2014) are often more likely to follow a familiar plot line.

Holmes, Marjorie. (1974). Two From Galilee: The Story of Mary and Joseph. New York: Bantam.

Mary's ambitious mother hopes to make a suitably prestigious match for her beautiful, but spirited daughter, but Mary wants to marry Joseph, the carpenter. The village gossips are cruel when Mary's pregnancy becomes noticeable, but Joseph comes across as not only honorable, but a supportive and loving husband. Thus, readers may want to revisit this novelette each Christmas season.

The novelette also forms the basis of a musical published by Word Music: http://wordmusic.com/choral/two-from-galilee.html

See also:

Luke 1: 26-56 (NIV). The birth of Jesus foretold. (n. d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%201:26-56

Luke 2: 1-39 (NIV). The birth of Jesus. (n. d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2&version=NIV

Two from Galilee: The Story of Mary and Joseph. (2015). Goodreads. Retrieved from

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/682919.Two_from_Galilee

Goodreads reviewers award Marjorie Holmes' romantic retelling of the Christmas story a 3.95 rating.

Two from Galilee. (2015, January 15). Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_from_Galilee

Wikipedia summarizes the plot of the first installment in Holmes trilogy on the life of Jesus. Three from Galilee (1985) and The Messiah (1987) finish her retelling of the gospel story.

Kingsbury, Karen. (2014). Angels Walking. New York: Howard Books.

Seizing upon the idea that angels minister to troubled souls unaware, pointing their way to men and women of faith that aid them, this romantic, light-weight tale brings a washed-up minor league baseball player and his successful high school sweetheart back together again. Readers, however, will need to disregard Karen Kingsbury's depiction of God's messengers as both men and women, even though the Bible always depicts angels as men. 

See also:

Angels Walking. (2015). Goodreads. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20821619-angels-walking

Goodreads reviewers give Angels Walking a 4.15 rating, although more than a few acknowledge that Kingsbury follows a predictable, formulaic plot line—boy loses girl; trouble brings them back together.

Taylor, Diana Wallis. (2009). Journey to the Well: A Novel. Grand Rapids: Revell.

Diana Wallis Taylor's imaginative retelling of the Samaritan woman at the well reveals a woman more sin against than sinning.  

See also:

John 4: 4-42 (NIV). Jesus talks with a Samaritan woman. Bible Gateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+4

Dise, Alice J. , et al. (2002, January 1). Journey to the Well: Leader's Guide (Google e-book). Urba Ministries. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books/about/Journey_to_the_Well.html?id=c2C0_Rfj1IAC

A study guide helps reviewers guide the study of this novel based on Vashti M. McKenzie's interpretation of the fourth chapter of John. Cokesbury furnishes a free download to the discussion guide: https://www.cokesbury.com/PDF/TeachableBooks/Journey%20to%20the%20Well.pdf

Journey to the Well. (2015). Goodreads. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4305074-journey-to-the-well

Goodreads reviewers give Diana Wallis Taylor's retelling of the story of the woman at the well a 4.09 rating, many of them pointing out that they discovered this easy yet inspiring read as a free-Kindle download.

Verge, Lisa Ann. (2009, August). Journey to the Well. Historical Novel Society. 49. Retrieved from http://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/journey-to-the-well/

Lisa Verge praises Journey to the Well as “a heartfelt story about the difficulties of being a woman in Biblical times.” Far from fallen, the woman at the well is instead victimized.



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More about Christian Chick Lit

Many critics relegate Christian chick lit to a good beach read.

Christian romances form a sub-genre that critics and booksellers alike generally refer to as “Chick Lit”. Christian romances may be either historical fiction based on the lives of women of the Bible,  women in 19th-century America, or isolated Christian sects like the Amish, or else it focuses on the lives and loves of contemporary Christian women.  Even if this sub-genre  doesn't appeal to literary critics, it does speak to a growing audience of women readers as evidenced by the Christian chick lit books that increasingly crowd public library shelves and are available on Kindle and Overdrive free-of-charge.

Christian chick lit books. (2015). PaperBack Swap. Retrieved from http://www.paperbackswap.com/Christian-Chick-Lit/tag/11891/

PaperBack swap lists popular Christian chick lit romances.

Christian fiction editors talk trends: Bonnets multiply' goodbye chick lit. (2010, March 8). PW [Publishers Weekly]. Retrieved from http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20100308/42306-christian-fiction-editors-talk-trends-bonnets-multiply-goodbye-chicklit.html

Christian fiction in 2010 is no longer issue driven while Amish and Western romance novels are hot sellers. Indeed, “romances in any form dominate religious sales”, although to label a novel “Christian Chick Lit” is “the kiss of death” even if authors like Karen Kingsbury and Francine Rivers have proved that a large appetite for Christian romances exists (Christian fiction trends, 2010, March 8, para. 3, 6, 7, 11-14).

Chick lit roundtable. (2015). Faithful Reader. Retrieved from http://old.faithfulreader.com/features/0411chicklit/chicklit.asp

The Faithful Reader Blog interviews 11 authors who write Christian chick lit novels, asking them how the sub-genre differs from the traditional romance novel.

Fab five Christian chick lit novels. (2014, September 26). Chick Lit Chickadees. Retrieved from http://chicklitchickadees.com/fab-five-christian-chick-lit-novels/

Blog reviews novels by Melody Carlson, Laura Jensen Walker, Angela Hunt, Nicole Baart, and Francine Rivers. Hunt and Rivers romances are likely to show up on any Christian chick lit reading list.

Female readers flock to Christian chick lit. (2015, march 24). Today. MSNBC Interactive. Retrieved from http://www.today.com/id/7273950/ns/today/t/female-readers-flock-christian-chick-lit/#.VSUlvuUo7IU

This news article notes the growing popularity of chick lit among women who would otherwise read mainstream romantic novels.

Kurlantzick, Joshua. (2004, September 21). The new bodice-rippers: More God and less sex. Books. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/21/books/21roma.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0

To satisfy the demands of a predominantly evangelical Christian female audience, publishers have come up with a sub-genre known as chick lit where the female protagonist not only seeks “to connect” with the man of her dreams but with God as well  while keeping her virtue (Kurlantzick, 2004, September 21, para. 3 & 7).

Moon, Ruth. (2010 June). The perils of Christian chick lit. Christianity Today. Retrieved from http://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2010/june/perils-of-christian-chick-lit.html?paging=off

Moon disparages the Christian chick lit sub-genre, or what Ruth Graham calls, “ a grounded alternative to the Gossip Girl landscape, although she lauds historical romance novels that promote traditional values like Catherine Marshall's Christy.

Popular Christian chick lit books. (2015). Goodreads. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/christian-chick-lit

Goodreads rates popular Christian chick lit novels.

Smith, Evelyn Elaine. (2014, December 19). Christian Library Online: A Review of Historical Christian Romances. McGregor, Texas, McGinley Memorial Public Library Books and Friends. Retrieved from http://evelynelainesmith.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2014-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2015-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=28

Based either on the lives of women of the Bible or the lives of Christian saints and martyrs, these narratives are self-limiting even as contemporary authors seek to endow their characters with situations that might appeal to present-day fans of the romance genre.

Smith, Fiona Veitch. (2008, April 17). Niche markets: Christian 'chick lit'. The Crafty Writer. Retrieved from http://www.thecraftywriter.com/2008/04/17/niche-markets-christian-chick-lit/

Fiona Smith interviews Penny Culliford, the author of the Theodora's Diary series—a series once described as “Bridget Jones Goes to Church”.

Trueman, Carl. (2007, May). Beyond the limitations of chick lit.  Reformation 21. Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. Retrieved from http://www.reformation21.org/counterpoints/carl-truemanbeyond-the-limitations-of.php

Trueman notes that while “Catholicism has produced the most stimulating literary figures of the Christian tradition”, he wonders if it is possible to produce a Protestant Graham Greene, Walker Percy, Flannery O'Connor, or Evelyn Waugh (2007, May, para. 3-4). Accordingly, for those looking for great literature, Trueman counsels that it's best to avoid most Christian chick lit (2007, May, para. 3).

Zifron, Jill Krapp. (2013). Christian chick lit. Chick Lit Books. Retrieved from http://chicklitbooks.com/sub-genres/christian-chick-lit/

Jill Zifron praises this “new” fiction sub-genre in a blog last updated in 2013.