by Angela Hunt
Book review by Janice Byrd
Angela
Hunt is one of my favorite fiction writers primarily because her
contemporary tales usually remind me of a biblical story in the
subtlest way, without forcing the analogy. The Novelist,
published in 2006 by Thomas Nelson, is especially intriguing
because it is a story-within-a-story.
Jordan Casey, a famous author of super spy,
action novels, agrees to teach a fiction-writing class at a
community college. When criticized by one of her students for
the unemotional, plot-driven novels she’s accustomed to writing,
Jordon agrees to write a novel over the weeks of the course,
allowing the class to observe and question her writing.
Excerpts of the novel Jordan writes are
interspersed within the pages of Jordan’s own story which is the
major part of the book. That story centers around her
twenty-one-year-old, mentally ill, alcoholic son, Zack. Jordan’s
classroom novel, titled The Ambassador, is a loose
allegory of the Genesis account of Adam and Eve.
Free will, temptation, and Jordan’s plotted provision for her
character’s ultimate redemption are all reminiscent of God’s
creation story. Jordon, the teacher and author, writes herself
into the plot of The Ambassador.
Of course, it isn’t possible for a created
character in a book to initiate interaction with the author. Nor
is it possible for Adam, Eve, or me, as human beings, to
initiate a relationship with our Creator. However, the Creator
or Author, in this case, can establish an interactive
relationship with His characters by writing Himself into our
story, just like Jordan did in hers.
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