The Novelist

Angela Hunt offers us a rare insight into the inner workings of a writer and a parent in this fine novel. Jordan is challenged to write a novel from the heart rather to simply fit a genre. As a beginning author I was deeply gratified with Hunt's willingness to abandon her own genre and to indeed write a book strictly from the heart. I don't how much of the Novelist reflects Hunt's own soul but I know she must have left some of it on these pages. The story within the story takes a little while to get used to. But it works wonderfully once you give it a chance! How many of us would be willing to examine ourselves as honestly as Jordan does in the Novelist? This is a different kind of book and for that I give it five stars.

I have found it hard to find beautifully written Christian fiction, but this book certainly fits the bill. It contains paragraphs, phrases, that make you stop and catch your breath. It also captures the protagonist's faith effortlessly. Without being syrupy or preachy, without having story lines constructed to artificially expound on it, it is just there. I recommend this book highly.

I was used to her suspense stories, so I was a bit uneasy about her writing something completely different. I read it and was blown away. It takes incredible talent to write a "story within a story" but Hunt does it so seamlessly that it just works. I had trouble putting it down. Definitely a must-read if you're a Hunt fan!

Angela Hunt wraps a story in a story in such a unique way that it was hard to put this book down. Jordan Casey is a writer, wife, mother and teacher. She is at a point where she is facing some difficult struggles and instead of trying to balance everything, she chooses a different path. She declines what could be a big paying project in order to teach a writing class and write a book that is unlike one she has ever attempted. The result is a magical tale of choices, mis-steps, love and redemption. I loved the characters in this book. The husband and wife seemed like a real couple. The class that Jordan teaches was full of real life writing tid bits that I felt like I could use in my own writing. Even the smaller characters were full. I did not fully understand the character of the son, but I don't think that was the point. This was about a mother's struggles with her son, so I didn't feel like I needed a more in depth portrait of him. I recommend this book and thank the author for giving me something a little out of the norm to enjoy.

Think a novelist's life consists of fancy release parties, crowded book signings, and TV appearances? Think again. Being a writer is tough work, even for a bestselling one like Jordan Casey, the protagonist of The Novelist. She's made her success penning 20 testosterone-laced novels featuring super-spy Rex Tower, which is why most of the world thinks "she" is a "he". But the students in Jordan's class "An Introduction to Novel Writing" at the community college quickly discover Rex's creator is actually an utterly normal middle-aged mother of three. Within the first minutes of class, one of Jordan's students challenges her to write a book less plastic and more personal than her Rex Tower stories--to open a vein at the keyboard, which in authorese means bleeding your heart into the story. At first offended, Jordan tries to ignore the challenge. But the criticism of her shallow novels cuts deep. Jordan's always been reluctant to merge her faith with her writing, but what kind of message is that sending to her son Zach, who's already skeptical of her Christianity? Soon Jordan sees the opportunity. Not only can she show, rather than tell, her class how to write a novel, but maybe she can use the resulting story to reach Zach. And so a novella is born. Interspersed throughout the modern-day scenes of The Novelist, we read the manuscript Jordan writes for her students. A spiritual allegory she titles The Ambassador, Jordan uses slot machines and gambling as symbols to share the story of a man who is all of us. But as Jordan's fictional story unfolds, so does the one of her real-life. Zach's increasingly erratic behavior drives mother and son even further apart, and Jordan and her husband struggle with how to handle him. Finding Zach's journal, Jordan is shocked to read about a side of Zach she never dreamed existed--he wants to die. Where did she go wrong? And how can she help a son who doesn't want to be helped? Readers of The Novelist can't help but wonder how much of Angela Hunt is in Jordan Casey. After all, they're both bestselling novelists, drive the same model car, and even own mastiffs. But Angela insists, "Jordan is much more successful, wealthy, and better looking than me." It's clear however, that what Jordan lacks in her Rex Tower novels -- emotion and character -- Angela certainly doesn't. I knew I was in the hands of a skilled writer who drew me into the story from the get-go. Interestingly, The Novelist also acts as a sort of primer for budding writers. Jordan's advice to her students could just as easily be read in an issue of Writer's Digest. From how to make time to write, to giving your characters warts, it's practical counsel all writers will appreciate. And anyone familiar with Angela's previous novels will smile at the nod toward two of her own, Unspoken and The Canopy, in a piece of advice Jordan gives the students. When I asked Angela why she chose to write two stories in one, she said, "Jordan's story is a metaphor to ill