| LDS fiction (or Mormon fiction) is a rapidly growing niche market of
fiction novels featuring themes related to
The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the LDS Church, see also "Mormon"). Virtually
nonexistent 25 years ago, the meteoric rise of LDS fiction is often attributed to Gerald Lund's popular LDS historical fiction series the Work and the Glory. LDS
fiction now accounts for more than half the sales of some Latter-day Saint book
publishers. Growth in LDS fiction sales show no sign of slowing in spite of critics.
History of LDS fiction
Many LDS writers have been noted for genre fiction, but few novels
dealt explicitly with Mormon issues until recently. Prior to 1979, LDS publishers didn't
print novels, and concentrated mostly on non-fiction like faith-promoting stories, biographies, songbooks, doctrinal discourses, and other materials.
In that year, LDS Church-owned Deseret Book published its first novel,
possibly the first-ever LDS novel, Under the Same Stars by Dean Hughs.
However, LDS fiction remained obscure until after 1990 when Gerald Lund released the first Work and
the Glory book. This book became a series chronicling the lives of the fictional Benjamin Steed family. Sales for LDS fiction
remained stagnant though, and publishers were still cynical about the potential market. This changed in the early 1990s as sales of Lund's subsequent installments snowballed and other early LDS fiction series
like Chris Heimerdinger's Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites took off.
Additional LDS historical fiction series were written, but new trends and sub-genres
emerged. Many new works are not serial, or at least can be read intelligibly from any
given novel. Mysteries and romances now complement novels like Lund's whose books instill a sense of heritage and reverence for
historical Latter-day Saints. Newer LDS fiction tends to be lighter
and less likely to contain overtly religious morals in their plots. Instead, stories aimed at entertainment are woven on an LDS
backdrop. Since 2000, LDS fiction sales have risen dramatically. At least one LDS
publisher, Covenant Communications, claims fiction now accounts for more than half of their sales.
Recently, LDS fiction has cross-pollinated into another new LDS cultural trend, Mormon cinema. Charly,
released in 2002, is based on a novel by LDS fiction author Jack Weyland. Other planned
adaptations include a movie based on the Work and the Glory.
Controversies about LDS fiction
In 2002 The Last Promise, a novel by LDS fiction writer Richard Paul Evans, was
rejected by an LDS Church-owned publisher, Deseret Book. The publisher explained that extramarital affection in the book
(cuddling on the banks of a river) implied adultery. Evans denied this and it was
published instead by Dutton, a New York publisher. Lampooned by some non-Mormons who supposed that the rejection reflected
excessive church puritanism, it shows how seriously LDS book publishers take
their self-imposed mission to print "uplifting" narratives.
This brings up more lingering criticisms of LDS fiction: that real life cannot realistically be portrayed without straying
into gritty details that often aren't uplifting or necessarily flattering to the LDS Church. Some critics doubt that LDS fiction
can adequately tackle prominent modern issues like drug abuse, depression, sexual
abuse, or human failings in local LDS Church leaders.
Some Latter-day Saints criticize LDS fiction for an entirely different reason: that it distracts from more serious religious
study. For example, some have decried the Work and the Glory series, which features many prominent figures in LDS history,
as displacing the primary texts of these historical figures. Proponents of LDS fiction deny this and instead argue that
expressions of the Mormon culture strengthen Latter-day Saint ties to the church and therefore promote active faith.
Notable LDS fiction writers
- Liz Adair is a relatively new LDS fiction writer whose Spider Latham mysteries are set in a fictionalized
version of Panaca, Nevada.
- Richard Paul
Evans, an author most famous for his story The Christmas Box which has crossover appeal,
also wrote a book The Last Promise which was rejected by Deseret Book for extramarital hugging.
- Chris Heimerdinger has authored over a dozen books, most of which are considered young adult novels. The most
successful of these are the Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites series where youth are transported back to the times of the
Nephites, an ancient American
Hebrew civilization according to the Book of Mormon. The original Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites was published in 1989, and nearly one million Heimerdinger titles have been sold through 2004. One of his stories, Passage to Zarahemla, may soon be
made into a movie.
- Dean Hughes is a BYU professor and
author of nearly one hundred LDS and national-audience books. In 1979 he published possibly
the first LDS novel, Under the Same Stars. Hughs is noted for LDS historical fiction. His Children of Promise and Hearts of the Children series take place
during World War II and the 1960s
forward, respectively.
- Sharon Downing Jarvis is a LDS fiction writer whose current project, the Fairhaven Chronicles series set in
Alabama, is a conscious effort to replicate Jan Karon's popular Mitford series in Mormon terms.
- Gerald Lund, author of
the nine-book Work and
the Glory series, is the most prominent LDS fiction author. Since his first book in 1990, over two million copies from the series have been sold. The lengthy historical fiction narratives about a family struggling through early anti-Mormon persecution sell
especially well as books on tape. The first book in the
series is currently being filmed for a movie, probably to be released late 2004. It's the
most anticipated and expensive Mormon cinema film to date, with a budget
of over $7.4 million.
- Chris Stewart is an ex-Air Force pilot and
best-selling author of military thrillers who has begun a series called "The Great and the Terrible." The books (two
released as of October 2004) describe conflicts of good vs. evil framed in Mormon theological terms.
- Anita Stansfield is a relatively edgy LDS fiction writer who concentrates on chaste LDS romance novels. In some of her 25
books published since 1994 are themes like coping with cancer, domestic violence, rape, and adoption. Indeed, one historical fiction novel, though
not explicitly LDS-themed, was rejected from Covenant Communications, and LDS publisher, for reference to an out-of-wedlock
baby.
- Jack Weyland authored Charly, an
early LDS fiction published in 1980. The story is romance between BYU students. Weyland now has a trilogy of books based on
the characters and has written other novels in his light-hearted humorous style. Charly was made into a movie released in
2002.
External links
Links to LDS publishers
- Covenant
Communications (http://www.covenant-lds.com/)
- Deseret Book (http://deseretbook.com/) - Deseret Book
is also a bookseller and has bios on many of the LDS fiction authors listed above.
- Signature
Books (http://www.signaturebooks.com/) - Controversial Mormon-issues publisher
that nonetheless prints some LDS fiction.
Links to LDS fiction writers
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