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What is a “romance novel?” Is it a novel whose main focus is the building of a relationship that leads to marriage between a man and a woman? By that definition, much or even most of modern “romance novels” would not qualify. Do we often associate the word “trashy” with the term “romance novel?” Jane Austen’s books are not categorized as “romance” novels, yet the focus of each novel is on the life of the heroine and her relationship with a man leading to a conclusion of marriage. And Austen’s books are definitely not “trashy” since they are considered to be classics (highly-recommended, by the way).
Growing up into adulthood and developing affection for a member of the opposite sex that leads to the joys of life-long marriage and family unity is an incredibly important part of life, second only to the establishment and life-long continuation of our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, one would think that having romance as a part of fiction would be a normal thing and not be relegated to one genre that is oriented towards females-only. If denying books to boys that encourage them to be brave, strong men is a disservice to them, then stripping all romance from boys’ reading is an equal disservice. If we want to teach our children, boys and girls, the wonders of love and marriage, supporting Biblical teaching with good fiction in which romance plays a part would be a wise thing to do. This romance aspect of novels should focus on males and females, since the Bible commands both to love their spouses.
A wonderful American author who wrote in the first half of the 20th century was Grace Livingston Hill. She created lovely books, solidly and explicitly Christian, which explore life and adventure in general but focus on relationships between men and women. She has outstanding heroines and heroes and usually tells her stories through both points of view. Her best books, I think, rival Jane Austen’s writing in their realism, wit, gentle sarcasm, and deep emotional feeling. Austen’s books are soundly based in English Christian society but only have implicit spiritual depth – right is right and wrong is wrong and happiness comes from following Biblical teachings but not much at all about a character’s inner spiritual life. My wife and I have visited the Jane Austen house in Chawton, England, where you can see the real-life deep and profoundly Christian part of Austen, which does not, however, appear directly in her books.
Grace Livingston Hill, on the other hand, in most of her books is much more direct and open about Biblical teaching but is not preachy (whatever that means). Biblical truth is often part of the heroine’s or hero’s character and churches and pastors play a significant role in many of her books, as they do in so many of our lives. The first half of the 20th century was when the struggle in the modern church between abandoning Biblical truth and clinging to it really came into the open in America. That struggle also comes into many of her novels.
Jane Austen finished six exquisite novel gems – Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, Emma, and Persuasion. Grace Livingston Hill wrote a lot more than that. Like any good author who was prolific, I would say that roughly a third of her novels are of the highest quality, up there with the Austen novels, one third are fun to read but are not quite as good as the top third, and one third are still pleasurable reading but lean a bit towards mediocrity.
The two books that are reviewed here (finally!) are two of her best, both from the top third and contained in one volume: The Girl from Montana and A Daily Rate. The heroine from The Girl from Montana is Elizabeth Bailey, the only surviving child of a working-class mother and an upper-class father, both from Philadelphia, who had eloped to Montana to escape societal censure. She herself, after the death of her parents and brother, flees back east to get away from men who would hurt her and finds shelter with her relatives. Her journey east also awakens her desire to know God because she wants to find a hiding place from evil. In Philadelphia, she encounters both grandmothers, who are interesting (and a little quirky) people, and at last finds the Lord. The conflict between levels of society and education, western values vs. eastern values, and liberal vs. real Christianity makes for an exciting and often humorous story.
A Daily Rate tells the story of Celia and her aunt Hannah, who escape the thralldom of unkind and controlling relatives to run a boarding house in the middle of town. Through simple hospitality, buttressed with Christian love and God’s provision, they transform the boarding house and the lives of the boarders. An important sub-theme of the book, and many other of Hill’s novels, is the use of creativity in the home to make it beautiful (someday read The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer). There is gentle but loving sarcasm in the story – loving someone does not mean you can’t derive some amusement from their actions and words. There is salvation and growing spiritual maturity in the story, mixed together with several growing relationships that lead to marriage. When I favorably compare some of Hill’s books to Jane Austen, A Daily Rate is the book I most have in mind.
A final note: Three of Hill’s top third books that are mainly from the hero’s point of view are The Seventh Hour, The Witness, and The Story of a Whim. These would be a good place for a young man to start reading. All of Hill’s books, including the two reviewed here, are at the high school to adult level but could be appreciated by a really good upper middle school reader, female or male.