Take me straight to the newest letter.
Take me straight to the Questions on Streiker's Bride.
Take me straight to the letter on the sex in Nicole .
 

Letters regarding the Streiker Saga fall squarely into one of two camps. Some readers get it . . .

Dear Robin Hardy,

For many years I have wanted to write to you and let you know how your books have impacted our area. Our oldest son, Jacob, read Streiker's Bride at about 11 years of age. After reading the scene of the consummation of the marriage, he approached me and asked if he could make a vow to God to be sexually pure, a virgin, until marriage. I was really shocked. I thought he was too young to even have considered such things. . . . . After Jacob thoroughly researched what the Bible has to say about vows, he was ready to make such a commitment. We purchased a ring for him to wear until it was appropriate to give the ring to his wife. Your book made him understand how precious the marriage bed is. . . .

 As a sophomore in the public high school I encouraged Jacob to go public with his commitment to God, both in the Christian and the secular arena. He attended Bible studies with two different youth groups plus a Christian chat room at the public high school. My reasoning was that if the young men lead the way with sexual purity the girls will follow. When a boy is pursuing a girlfriend for sex he is forcing HER to be the spiritual leader in the relationship. Therefore we must train our young men to do what is right before God, only and always. Jacob went public with his commitment. Many have followed his example. . . .

KT
Via e-mail

. . . and some readers don't get it:

[To the publisher]:

 I just recently finished reading one of your publications. The book is called, Streiker's Bride, by Robin Hardy. I purchased this book after seeing it advertised in a popular christian magazine, called CAMPUS LIFE. I then ordered it from my local EVANGEL book store. STREIKER'S BRIDE compelled me to compose this letter in the hopes of identifying certain problems with the standards and principles found in this book.

 This is NOT a christian book. I have read the book in its entirety and not one sentence proclaims of Jesus Christ and the salvation He has to offer. In fact, several parts of this book were anything but christian . . . I was very disappointed with this book. It does nothing to promote or pursuade [sic] the reader to Jesus Christ. Overall, the story was good, however, those certain sections and phrases or lack thereof, completely ruined the book for me. I am 18 years old and have read at least a hundred christian books by authors such as: Janette Oke, Lori Wick, Marian Wells, and Micheal [sic] Phillips & Judith Pella and they have been able to adequately get their points across without sacrificing their values. Robin Hardy put one Bible verse at the end of the book and that had almost nothing to do with the rest of the story. . . .

M.E.
Grant's Pass, OR

So, with a salute to Anita Padgett, who used the book in a literature course at The King's Academy in Woodstock, GA, may we present:

Questions to Help You Get the Most out of
Streiker's Bride by Robin Hardy

(All page numbers refer to the 3rd edition published by Westford Press, 2003.)

1. What does the epigraph on p. 277 have to do with the book?

2. Is the book primarily an allegory or an analogy? What is the difference?

3. What does the file folder represent (pp. 13-14)? Why are there no photos of Streiker in the folder?

4. Keeping the analogy in mind, consider:

(a) What reason did Fletcher give for choosing Adair (p. 32)?

(b) Why was it important to Fletcher for Adair to feel love for him (p. 42)? Hint: Matt. 22:37

(c) What is the significance of Adair's dream (pp. 52-53)?

(d) What is "the tyranny of the unimportant" (p. 63)?

(e) Who takes the initiative in Fletcher and Adair's relationship? Who has the most to lose (p. 74)? Who sets the parameters for the relationship? Does that leave Adair with no choice (p. 105)? Or more choices (p. 177)?

(f) What is the difference between "personal guarantees" and a "complete relationship" (p. 126)?

(g) What is the main reason Adair has so much trouble getting back into her apartment, where she is supposed to be (chaps. 8-9)? Is this Fletcher's fault?

5. What do the phone calls between Fletcher and Adair represent?

6. When does Adair begin to experience success and a sense of peace in her new life (pp. 193-194)?

7. Whom does Darren Loggia represent?

8. Why does Fletcher never lie (p. 236)? What does this mean to Adair?

9. Why does Fletcher give Darren access to Adair (p. 274)?

10. Whom does Harle Kellum represent?

Bonus question: In terms of the analogy, what is the difference between the Streiker Building and the Streiker Corporation?

(see the answers here)

Now for our long-awaited discussion of profanity in Christian fiction:

Dear Robin,

 When I began reading Chataine's Guardian, I was delighted to find a pure fantasy option in our market, rather than a futuristic or science fiction book. The setting is fully and believably developed, and the characters are well rounded. Unfortunately, my delight turned to dismay when I discovered that the book contains profanity on pages 160 and 263. [On p. 160, a bad guy says, "Damn you!" to Roman when he prevents the man from seducing the young Deirdre. On p. 263, a soldier says, "This place looks like a damn infirmary," when the Lystrans have just discovered all the dead bodies of their enemies.] Our store has a policy against carrying books with profanity, and I have pulled your books for return.

  Since I must take this action, I want to take the time to share with you why I believe it is so important to keep Christian literature free from profanity. First, yes, your characters really would have used that word. And, yes, many people, even in Christian circles, do not have a problem with mild profanity. From a marketing standpoint, though, most buyers of Christian fiction are looking for an alternative to general trade fiction. They read a variety of genres, but they trust us to carry books without any objectionable language. Carrying books with profanity is a betrayal of the trust our customers have in us.

 Further, fiction does not need profanity to be realistic. Character development is based on many more things than dialog [sic]. . . . A well developed character can do without profanity. A poorly developed one will not come to life if you include profanity, even if that would be constant with the character. Your characters, as well as the setting, are well enough developed that the profanity was not needed. . . .

The Christian market may seem an unlikely arena for the same amount of garbage we see in the movies, but the realism argument leads to that end. We must take a stand somewhere, and I believe the appropriate stand is for no profanity at all.

 Thank you for taking time to hear my side of the profanity issue. You are a talented writer, and our market needs good writers. I look forward to enjoying your future books, as I have also enjoyed Streiker's Bride and Streiker the Killdeer. God bless you in all your future efforts.

S.R.
City withheld

Robin replies,

 "Thank you for your kind words about my little books, even from the other side of the fence. Actually, S., we're pretty close on this issue. I think that the use of profanity is a cheap, stupid, juvenile way to get attention. But after writing as much as I have, the question arises: what constitutes profanity?

 "I got a letter from a reader who objected to the statement 'Roman swore' in this same book--something that you don't seem to mind. And neither you nor that reader found fault with the line, 'Nanna cursed herself.' However, I got a letter from another reader who was offended by my use of 'gosh' and 'gee' in another book. To compound my confusion, you praise Streiker's Bride as the kind of fiction you support, when the objections raised by my use of the phrase 'rich bitch' in that book outnumbered all the complaints I've had about the whole Lystra trilogy.

 "Please note that I did not use the offending word in CG for character development. My first use of this word was to illustrate the Biblical principle found in Hebrews 11:7: 'Noah . . . condemned the world' (RSV, which uses a variation of the unutterable word). That is, Roman's obedience condemned the other man's lust, which enraged him so much that he wished Roman damned. I wanted to warn my readers that this is the kind of reaction believers must expect when they attempt to live their faith among nonbelievers.

 "My second use of the word was to emphasize the fact that it was literally an infirmary of the damned: the unrighteous are going to hell. As the author, I'm going to insist on the right to use words according to their standard dictionary definitions. How can I discuss Christian issues if I can't talk about the prospect of being damned? While my primary goal is to entertain, if I have the opportunity to sneak in some Biblically sound theology, I will.

 "You desire less realism in Christian fiction to avoid offending your customers, which makes sense from a marketing point of view. Your customers have come to expect that any book they pick up in your store will be safe and nonthreatening. But that's your priority, not mine. My readers have come to expect that any book they pick up with my name on it will have some meat in it for them to chew on.

 "For me to write solely within the limits you prescribe so that you can sell my books would be abdicating the power of fiction and shirking my responsibility as a Christian to a lost world. To me and many other Christian authors, it is an issue of authenticity. We want to portray life as it is in the real world to demonstrate that the power of God can cleanse and heal real suffering caused by real evil. Even in the fantasy genre, a book's power lies in how realistically it depicts the human struggle--can the reader relate to the characters?

 "Because of the pressure exerted on hungry authors and publishers to exclude reality from Christian fiction, the genre is a joke among serious readers. It saddens me that you allowed this tiny stumbling block, two words out of approximately 70,000, to prevent your grasping the primary message of my book: God saves us from our worst fears, beyond our wildest expectations. I don't know of anyone so secure in his understanding of God that he doesn't need even a simple reminder as that, in whatever form.

 "God bless you, also, in your livelihood and walk."

Following is an e-mail that Robin received regarding the sex scenes in Nicole of Prie Mer: 

Dear Mrs. Hardy,

 After my best friend recommended the Annals of Lystra to me, I found them and enjoyed them thoroughly.  Your writing style, your usage of words, your descriptions were incredible.  I felt like I was there, I felt as if I knew the characters personally. They were the type of characters that come alive.  I have found the character of Roman to be one who, like those in George MacDonald's books, become so real to me that I wonder what he would do in a certain circumstance.

 It was with great disappointment, then, that I began the book Nicole of Prie Mer.  I was uncomfortable with the details of the "seductions" in Padre, but wrote it off as the characters being non-Christians.  However, in Nicole, I was shocked to read details of scene after scene in a married couple's bedroom.  I very much enjoyed reading about more characters from Lystra, however, it was all tainted by the descriptions of sexual encounters. 

 Maybe I should explain where I'm coming from, so you can put yourself in my place for a minute. I'm a 20-year-old girl who once made a commitment to save my first kiss for my husband. That involves more than simply saving my lips--it requires keeping my thoughts, heart, and mind pure, which is an incredibly difficult task in today's world.  I enjoy reading well-written, "deep" Christian fiction, because the characters encourage and inspire me.  I especially enjoy the rare fictional romance that inspires me to love my future husband more. Such I found your first Lystra series to be.  But though I finished the book Nicole simply to see what happened to Ares and Nicole, I now wish I hadn't. Because those scenes and descriptions are in my mind to stay.

I look forward to learning about sex and the way a married couple interacts in the bedroom...on my wedding night, and every night after, with my husband.  But I believe that what happens behind closed doors should stay behind closed doors. It is doing no one any good to read descriptions of other people's sex lives. I don't know what that does to married women, but I know that for me, a single girl, it puts my thoughts in the last place they need to be right now.

 The male characters in your book remind me very much of the man I love. He, like them, is a man of incredible character and strength.  But because he and I are committed to purity, and to waiting until the Lord's timing for us to be married, other people's sexual relations are the last thing I need to be reading about. I need to be reading the inspiring stories of love, patience, and commitment no matter what—like I found in your first Lystra series.

 You have an incredible way with words. You don't need to use enticing sexual descriptions to keep your readers turning the pages. You have the ability to get the point across delicately, without giving us details. I watched the old movie "Adam's Rib" the other night (with Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn).  The last scene of the movie was Spencer Tracy pulling closed the curtains of their canopy bed. And that was all we needed to know.

So please, I write to you with respect as an elder, with concern for the integrity of a fellow writer, and with pleading because I am a young woman striving to live in purity. While I will continue to loan and recommend your Annals of Lystra to my friends and website visitors, I will not be recommending that they pick of the Latter Annals of Lystra.

May the Lord bless you for your work for Him.

Name withheld

Robin replies:

"Thank you for the courteous and respectful expression of your concerns regarding the bedroom scenes in Nicole of Prie Mer. I truly understand your position, which is why I wrote what I did. Here is what I mean:

"You note how Satan has hijacked sex in our culture to the point that someone such as yourself who is trying to live a godly life is uncomfortable (understandably so) with any expression of sexuality. I did note with some amusement that you talk as if the book is sexually explicit, when in fact I took great care to avoid that—I only hinted at the activities in progress; your imagination supplied the rest. But it was important to me to show that (1) Nicole was a virgin before marriage, which proves to be a great blessing (2) Ares is a gentle, considerate lover, but is entitled to, and expects to receive, the conjugal benefits of marriage (3) their marital sex is more fulfilling and joyful than illicit sex could have been (4) their physical intimacy is an important part of their relationship, and, (5) Ares and Nicole's faithfulness to each other in their marriage gives them self-sacrificial strength and divine protection. I could not simply close the curtain on their bedroom because of the important developments that took place there.

"You already appear to have a good grasp of these concepts, but many other young women do not. They think that Christian marriages must be joyless and dull, and the only way to experience intense physical love is to do it Satan's way—outside of marriage, in promiscuous, demeaning relationships. Have you noticed how many church-going young people feel that it's okay to live together? I am trying to wrest God-honoring sexuality out of Satan's grasp. He has such a tight grip on it, even you say that glimpses of Ares and Nicole's marital relationship 'taint' the book.

"If you and your fiance have gone in for premarital counseling (which many pastors require before they will marry a couple) you probably have heard recommendations for one of the numerous Christian sex manuals on the market. (My daughter and her husband-to-be were given a videotaped series based on such a book to watch together.) Any of these are far more explicit than anything I've ever written or will write. The descriptions of some of their recommended practices are, um, hair-raising, and of questionable value in my mind. I used to wonder why these are acceptable in Christian circles when my discreet marital love scenes are not.  

"Now I believe that is because it is understood that these manuals are for adults, whereas there is the unstated directive that all Christian fiction must be suitable for children (probably as a reaction against all the filth that is floating around in book form). But I am not writing to children; I am writing to equip adults emotionally for resisting Satan's attacks by believing in God's love for them.

"Finally, I also note your praise of Chataine's Guardian, which I appreciate. But when the second edition of that book was released ten years ago, it created a general firestorm because of (1) my use of words like "bastard" and "damn" (see the letter on profanity above) and (2) the fact that Roman married Deirdre before she had made a technical profession of faith. These were serious issues which I believe led to my publisher's dropping me. But you, being a thoughtful, mature Christian, don't seem to have any problem with them.

"I'm sorry that you can't recommend Nicole (you haven't read any of the other five Latter Annals to know anything about them) but that's okay; leave it alone. If it is honoring to God, it will endure; if it's not, it won't, and I'll be the one to answer for it."

In reference to the above answer, another reader asks, "Why did you have Roman marry Deirdre before she accepted Christ?"

Robin replies: "Please note that I said 'before she had made a technical profession of faith.' The short answer is: Deirdre's conversion was a process that began the day she met Roman. At what moment that process reached the point of conversion, Penuel does not tell us, but I believe it happened long before she verbalized it.

"I also have a deep suspicion of a verbal profession of faith as an indication of true salvation--too many people try to use it as a magic ritual, or something. See 'What Is Salvation? (Or, If I Accept Jesus Christ as my Savior, Can I Do Whatever I Want and Still Go to Heaven?)'"

Milton's rewriting Scripture:

In the opening paragraph of Stephanie's paper ("Is Satan the Hero of Paradise Lost?") she writes: "the angel gets kicked out of Heaven into Hell, goes to the garden of Eden, persuades Eve to eat an apple, and down plunges humanity. So why, then, did Milton choose to use this particular piece of Biblical narrative?"

"The angel" (Satan) getting kicked out of Heaven is a story that does not occur in the Bible. The word "apple" does not occur even once in the Bible. These two items are actually original to Paradise Lost, not the Bible; thus, they are not pieces of "Biblical narrative."  It is interesting, however, to realize how many people assume these things are in the Bible - people talk about them, people write about them, thus perpetuating this error. It is as if Milton has somewhat "rewritten" the Bible to some extent since most people think they already "know" what is in the Bible and therefore do not read it. Anyway, just another interesting example of this ongoing misunderstanding as to what is actually in the Bible, and what is actually in Paradise Lost.

K.D.M.
via e-mail

Robin replies:

"I appreciate that you're not only reading the articles on the website, but interested enough to comment. I hope that Stephanie will excuse me for answering for her, and correct me if I'm wrong on a particular point.

"I will grant you that about the apple--it seemed to me that Stephanie was simply relating aspects of the story as they are commonly understood. However, regarding Satan's fall from heaven, every commentary I've ever read interprets Isaiah 14:12-15, Ezekiel 28:12-19, and Luke 10:18 as referring to just that event. Milton did not make it up, nor do I see his rewriting Scripture any more than modern biblical novels do.

"Thanks for writing."

(Editor's note: As it turns out, this reader got her information not from the Bible or Milton, but from an opinion article on a website. Regarding the apple, Stephanie had this to say:)

"Thanks for writing and expressing your concern. The irony of the matter is that you and I are in complete agreement regarding the apple. I used to be so peeved when my Sunday School teachers talked about the 'apple' in the Genesis story. I kept saying to myself, 'BUT, if the APPLE was the forbidden fruit, then IT WOULDN'T BE HERE!' That is exactly why I said what I did in the introduction. I was not referring to what *actually* happened (we'll have to consult God on that one after the rapture--the Bible's a bit sketchy). What I was listing in the introductory paragraph was an extremely generous assumption of what the normal, non-believing American or European 'knows' about the fall of man. It has irritated me for so long that everyone puts the innocent apple within the fall of man, that I had to make reference to it. I guess people are just too lazy to say, 'the unknown forbidden fruit,' and 'apple' is much more convenient, but we both know the apple didn't do it. :D"

Robin received the following e-mail from a long-time reader:

I was reading "A Slice of Infinity" (a daily "thinkers" challenge) put out by Ravi Zacharias International Ministries and came upon the last two paragraphs and thought of your books that are now being brought back.  I very seldom have read a book over but the Chataine's Guardian series and Streiker Bride Series are both ones I have made it a point to read and reread.  When I saw this article on rereading, the only books that came to mind for me were yours. I thought you might enjoy these thoughts on books:

"Rereading beloved books has become a kind of rest for me, a chance to step off the treadmill of progressive reading.  When you read a book for the first time, you take a chance that it will be a waste of your time. When you reread a book that you already love, you don't take that chance.  You may think that you remember everything the book had to say, but you might
be surprised at what escaped you in the first reading. 

 "When a book has been really important in your life, rereading it will bring back all sorts of memories and shine a light on your own mental or spiritual formation.  When I reread a thought or phrase that has become a tried-and-true piece of the furniture of my mind, I am filled with gratitude to the writer and to God.  This gratitude spills over into hope as I read new books.  I look back at what I've gleaned from the great books that I've read and hope that each new book I open will contain the same kind of wisdom.  I suspect that if we cultivate the habit of rereading, we'll become accustomed to reading books for the right reasons.
So go ahead: pick up an old favorite, and enjoy!"

Robin replies: "How true! And when the pages start falling out, you know it's time to spring for a new copy. See the books I've destroyed with repeated readings here."