The Novelist is the story of a Christian mother and writer, Jordan, who decides to spend a semester teaching a community college class on the topic, “An Introduction to Novel Writing”. Jordan decides the best way to teach the class how to write a novel is to actually write one over the course of the semester and engage her students in the progress. The book she writes for her students is unlike anything she has ever written before as it is more personal and more Christian in nature. The script of this book is included in “The Novelist” as it is interspersed between the happenings in Jordan’s real life and often parallels her life. At this time Jordan’s life is taking a rather traumatic turn as her son’s behaviour causes her more and more concern.
Consequently, The Novelist is cleverly written as we are treated to two stories in one book. The pacing and timing of going from Jordan’s story to her real life is dealt with very well. Angela Hunt’s also does a great job of describing Jordan’s conflicts with her troubled son. Jordan wrestles with the Sovereignty of God but eventually comes to a deeper understanding of God’s purposes and to a place of peace.
It is an absorbing story and as an added bonus, while we are reading how Jordan teaches her college class, we learn how to write a novel!
