Come with me for another Closer Look at an author who only wrote 10 books but one became a best seller. We’ll look at her style, and her characters, her descriptions and plots, and perhaps you’ll discover a new author you’d like to try.

FRANCENA H. ARNOLD was born in 1888 and grew up on a farm in Jacksonville, IL. She married Frank Mitchell Arnold on August 29, 1912 and they moved to Chicago where Francena would spend nearly all the rest of her life as a schoolteacher and mother of four. She only wrote 10 books, but her first one, which was written “just for the eyes of the family” ended up becoming a best seller. Francena died in 1972 at the age of 84. Her books are still relevant and loved today.

Descriptions:

This author does a really good job of setting the stage, as it were, and keeping you grounded without piling up the descriptions. She gives enough to picture the setting and feel the weather, but doesn’t go overboard.

Conversation:

Wonderful! The characters live and breathe on the pages through their conversations. Nothing feels contrived or forced. There is no swearing at all.

Plots:

These books are Christian and encouraging, but the author often throws in a bit of mystery into the plot. Nothing really drastic or contrived. And many of these plots are not your typical plot. There are also themes that are not your typical theme and which help bring the plots to life perhaps in a way you weren’t expecting.

Hard Issues:

While not shying away from some really tough issues such as being born out of wedlock, marriage problems, life struggles, family issues, and more. They are all done with grace and truth. Nothing is described to make the reader feel dirty, and God’s love is shown even in the hard situations.

Romance:

There is romance. The sweet, clean kind that is not the focus on the story. I wouldn’t classify most of these books as “romance” because you could easily take the romance out and still have the story. There are no scenes that are icky, not descriptive kisses that make you wish they were elsewhere. All is gentle and clean and feels like real life, not Hollywood.

Doctrine:

The doctrine in these books lines up with Scripture, and this author does a wonderful job of weaving the truths of the Bible in to the pages of the story. It doesn’t feel as though it was just dropped in as an after thought. There are talks about salvation, following Christ, learning to trust, learning to communicate, Godly marriages, and more.

Time Periods and Places and People:

Francena Arnold wrote about her own time – 1950s. The people, the places, the settings all fit the era and give you a feel for what some parts of the country were like during that time. No modern slang or situations to worry about.

Objections:

Since some of the themes are hard, I wouldn’t recommend all of them to readers under 16.

Favorite Advice:

I don’t know if I can pick a favorite piece of advice out. There are so many things.

Have you read any books by this author? If so, have you read more than one of her books? Which one was a favorite? My least favorite is her best seller.