Why I believe women’s fiction is an important tool to share the gospel

Did you know that 80% of novels are bought by women? Fiction clearly resonates with us in a way that it doesn’t with men. But how would you feel about reading a ‘Christian’ novel in your quiet time? Would you feel guilty, with a nagging sense that it wasn’t quite ‘worthy’ enough? Similarly, would you give a friend a novel as a way of sharing the gospel with them?

I work for Instant Apostle, we publish many devotionals and discipleship books, and I have learnt so much from them. Yet I sometimes wonder if Christians have taken on the idea that ‘emotional truth’ – the kind shared in novels and often seen to be more valued by women – is somehow of lesser worth than others. And this troubles me. Of course, the Bible does share systematic theological truths about God – and we rightly cherish them. But throughout the Old Testament, and into the Gospels, we see God using stories to help us understand him, and ourselves. Just what a good novel should do!

Throughout the Old Testament, and into the Gospels, we see God using stories to help us understand him, and ourselves. Just what a good novel should do!

Have a think about this: Have CS Lewis’ academic books, like Mere Christianity, or his novels, like the Narnia and Space Trilogy series, done more to share the gospel? I am not trying to set one against the other – we would have loved to publish all of them! Rather I am asking if we implicitly think of his novels as somehow having less ‘weight’ than his apologetics. As if those of us who aren’t sufficiently serious or intellectual enough read his fictional stories, but ‘proper’ Christians read the hard stuff?  

Yet while there are lots of important books about spiritual warfare, many would say that none has explained things more clearly to them than the fictional Screwtape Letters. When my quiet times are dry, reading a good quality novel can help me connect with God in profoundly spiritual, and, yes, emotional, ways.

And novels can also open a door to faith.

And novels can also open a door to faith. An author like Graham Greene is complicated, but his novels wrestle very honestly with religious questions. A book like The End of the Affair is about a tortured, adulterous relationship. Yet in the midst of it all, one of the protagonist’s search for truth and Christian spiritual meaning are unmistakable. It is not ‘Christian fiction’, but over the years many readers will have been left with an unexpected understanding of Christian teachings and the peace only God can bring, things they may not even have been looking for. After reading Greene’s novel, they might be far more likely to pick up a book like Lewis’ Mere Christianity.

One of our most successful novelists, Ruth Leigh, has written four novels chronicling the often comic and sometimes poignant misadventures of a social media influencer, Isabella M Smugge. Gradually, as the series has developed, we have seen the heroine begin to engage with Christianity – from seriously profound challenges around forgiveness to the occasionally bizarre ‘rules’ we all follow at home groups. Any non-Christian reader who has identified with Isabella will be more open to talking about church and faith after reading Ruth’s subtle novels.

At Instant Apostle, we have prioritised publishing good quality fiction. Recently, we were delighted to learn that two of the three finalists for this year’s industry Christian Resources Together Fiction Book of the Year award were by our authors: Joy Margetts’ The Bride, and Jo Sheringham’s The Perfect Companion. And Jo Sheringham won the award this month!

The Bride is the third novel in an incredible historical fiction series. Set in medieval Wales, amid the beautiful landscapes and then thriving monasteries, each book takes us on a journey of personal and spiritual discovery with a different interlinked character. In The Bride, we are introduced to a young noblewoman who is deserted by her lover and forced into an arranged marriage. As she tries to deal with her invidious situation, she slowly comes to see God’s hand at work, and to understand His love for her. Indeed, her journey mirrors that of the Shulamite in Song of Songs, and Joy’s profound insights into the intimacy we can experience with God are intuitively shared in a way that any devotional writer would hope to match. Consciously following the themes of Song of Songs, The Bride is an ideal novel to read in quiet moments. It is a way of refreshing and deepening faith, or for giving to a non-Christian who is perhaps jaded by life and closed to a god they feel has let them down.

Jo Sheringham’s beautiful award-winner, The Perfect Companion, is the gentle and moving story of a self-effacing middle-aged woman, Maggie, whose life has been devoted to caring for her unsympathetic mother. Stifled by her caring role, a weekly service at her local cathedral has become her sole escape – though God seems far from Maggie’s simple, daily concerns. But when one day God quietly and unexpectedly begins to move, Maggie finds hope springing up, with the challenge and grace to extend God’s peace to others. Many of us have caring responsibilities and can relate to Jo’s protagonist. The sympathy that we feel for Maggie, and the affection God shows towards her, help us see ourselves through his eyes, making it an incredibly encouraging book.

So let’s not underestimate the power of fiction, and emotional truth, to enliven and share the gospel. Christianity is a heartfelt message of love – a love ‘more powerful than death’ (Song of Songs 8:6, CEV) – and one that a well-written story can help us all experience. And when we experience it, we will be changed.