One of the complaints about Christian fiction is that the novels are filled with cliche characters who don’t reflect real life: Mr Almost-Perfect meets Miss Practically Perfect, they overcome a minor doctrinal difference (are you a real Christian if you read the 1769 King James Version rather than the 1604 version?), and live happily ever after.
Others complain that the hero and heroine are always rich, good-looking, and successful, and their conflicts are #FirstWorldProblems. In other words, that the characters don’t reflect real life (however defined).
Many authors try and bring real life into the Christian fiction they write. Some brand this as “edgy” Christian fiction, as a way of separating their books in the market.
What is “Edgy” Christian Fiction?
First, we need to remember there is no universal definition for Christian fiction. I’ve discussed this before:
Edgy is an equally difficult term to define. In broad terms, my observations suggest “edgy” is a term applied to any Christian fiction that doesn’t fit the cookie-cutter fiction traditional publishers tend to put out (because publishing is a business, and following the formula is seen as the route to financial success).
Edgy can include:
- Characters who have problems with alcohol or illegal drugs. Conservative Christian readers will consider any novel in which a character drinks alcohol to be edgy. Owning a vineyard is definitely edgy. Proper Christians, it seems, never touch alcohol. Not even in Holy Communion.
- Characters who have problems with addictions such as gambling or pornography.
- Characters who have been physically abused as children.
- Characters who have been sexually abused.
- Characters who have had abortions, or babies out of wedlock.
- Divorced characters.
Unfortunately, these are real-life situations for many readers, Christian and otherwise. The world is full of hurting people who have been affected by these problems, either as the victim or the perpetrator. Jesus came to save the lost, and too many Christian novels pretend they don’t exist.
As such, there is a market for “edgy” Christian fiction, as readers with less than ideal backgrounds seek fiction that reflects their reality. Yes, sometimes this fiction pushes the envelope of what is typically considered Christian fiction. But that is probably an envelope that needs pushing (if you’ll excuse the bad analogy).
What is Diverse Christian Fiction?
Another envelope that needs pushing is diversity in Christian fiction. Most CBA novels from ECPA publishers have a lot in common:
- They are set in the United States of America—the main exception is a small number of historical romances set in England, usually Regency or Edwardian England.
- They feature predominantly white characters, although a growing number feature Hispanic main characters.
- A smaller number feature people of Native American or African-American heritage, and even fewer feature other racial minorities such as Asian-American. Where novels do feature minorities, they are likely to be self-published or from a small press.
- Most novels are non-denominational, although the characters are clearly Protestant (usually conservative evangelical) rather than Roman Catholic or Orthodox or some other Christian denomination.
There is room for the Christian fiction market to expand to include characters who represent a broader cross-section of the Christian church.
This includes:
- Fiction set outside the United States and Regency England.
- Historical fiction representing nations and cultures other than the United States and England or Scotland.
- Fiction from the point of view of indigenous peoples.
- Fiction from the point of view of non-white immigrants.
This gives more of us the chance to see ourselves on the page. Yes, I include myself in “diverse”. I’m from New Zealand, and there is a dearth of fiction featuring Kiwi characters or Kiwi settings, much less Kiwi characters in New Zealand.
There are authors writing and publishing edgy fiction, diverse fiction (and even edgy and diverse fiction), but I’d like to see more.
I’d especially like to see more edgy and diverse fiction from the large traditional publishers.
Would you?
