Francine Rivers' new novel The Lady’s Mine is set in a California gold rush town. Kathryn Walsh is a city girl newly arrived from Boston. Matthias Beck is one of Calvada’s leading citizens. Neither is very impressed with the other. Not at first anyway. But Kathryn’s decision to relaunch her late uncle’s newspaper will have very far reaching consequences.
I asked Francine about writing and her new release.
You write fiction and nonfiction but are best known for being a novelist. What is it about storytelling that keeps you coming back to it again and again?
I love reading good stories. Every writer has a unique voice, life experience, way of looking at characters and the world. Every time I dive into a book, I’m diving into the creative mind of another writer. There are only so many plots and yet there is no limit to the way we tell stories. In my opinion, the best stories teach us lessons, and I’ve tried to do that through my own. Almost every project I’ve tackled has been a personal quest to find answers to faith questions. It’s an exciting process to create characters who come to life and voice different points of view, with one, like me, seeking God’s perspective.
I also love nonfiction and not all from a Christian perspective. It’s important to learn how other people think and process issues we all face. The Bible is nonfiction and I read through it every year. I’m looking for information, inspiration, and transformation. Scripture is God-breathed and alive and provides all three.
What character in this The Lady’s Mine did you most enjoy crafting? Why?
Kathryn Walsh! She has strong faith, seeks the Lord, and does what she believes is right. She isn’t a quiet little lady in the pew. She’s fiery, opinionated, earnest, and determined to make the town she lives in better (whether men agree or not). When she realizes she’s wrong about something, she changes her mind. When she’s right, she ploughs ahead no matter the cost. She looks for ways to help people rise from poverty. Though she has few resources herself, she shares what she does have. She doesn’t judge anyone (except Matthias Beck!), though she is frequently judged by others (Beck being one). And she has a sense of humour. Frankly, I enjoyed getting to know her during the COVID shelter in place orders. And, of course, Matthias Beck also had his fascinating character traits.
In The Lady's Mine we see two sides of love—that which is possessive and controlling and that which supports, protects, and encourages. Many of your books are love stories, but many have non-standard love stories in them, such as Elvira’s peripheral story in The Lady's Mine. What is it about these folks, whom Jesus spoke to but many 'religious' people through the ages condemn, which makes you want to include them in your books, and do they come into your stories unbidden or do you plan them?
The main characters are always the first to arrive in my head, and they carry on intense conversations. It’s one of the highly entertaining things about writing: the imaginary friends and enemies that inhabit my mind over the course of months and sometimes years. I loved the movie The Man Who Invented Christmas because of the way Dickens’s characters followed him around, talking to and arguing with him. I certainly related to that experience. Many writers I know feel the same way. Peripheral characters, in my case, are seldom planned. They appear and start to tell their story. Sometimes, as in Elvira’s case, her story links to that of another character. That wasn’t planned either, but it worked out well for the overall message.
Every human being, from conception to the last breath, has great value to God. We are all sinners in need of a Savior, and God sent Jesus. He’s done everything and given everything necessary to open the way to a personal relationship with His Father. The world condemns many. The new order of the day seems to be pitting one group against another. But God doesn’t think like mankind. He sees each of us as precious, redeemable, a child to be wooed into a full, loving relationship with Him, a lost lamb that needs a Shepherd (Jesus) to show the way home. I believe and trust in God. And I strive to see people in the same way He does, through eyes of love.
The starting point of this novel came from one I wrote in the general market years ago. The title told me little, and I glanced through it to jog my memory. What struck me is how many opportunities for character development and coping with real-life issues I had missed. And I thought: Why not rewrite it? Why not show the difference God has made in my life over the past thirty-plus years as a Christian? I’ve also learned more about the craft of writing. With the COVID shutdown and life so heavy and serious, I wanted the story to have humor in it. People need to laugh. I know I do. I hope readers will enjoy The Lady's Mine as much as I enjoyed writing it.
ISBN 978-1-4964-4757-9 | Hardcover | £21.99 | February 22, 2022
New York Times bestselling author Francine Rivers has published numerous novels—all bestsellers—and she has continued to win both industry acclaim and reader loyalty around the globe. Her Christian novels have been awarded or nominated for many honours, and in 1997, after winning her third RITA Award for inspirational fiction, Francine was inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. In 2015, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW). Francine’s novels have been translated into over thirty different languages, and she enjoys bestseller status in many countries.
