GHOSTED:
An American Story
By Nancy French
Zondervan. 288 pages. £20
ISBN 978 0 310 367 444
Bestselling author Nancy French sure knows how to tell a story. Unusually for her, and wonderfully for her readers, this time the story she tells is her own. Formerly a ghostwriter, this book tells of French’s journey from poverty, through abuse, to huge political influence – and being cast out by her tribe and her church.
French’s faith comes across as charismatic, full of dreams and prophecies fulfilled. From growing up and being abused by a preacher from a young age, to experiencing rejection at her Christian college, but then ostracised at NYU for being too conservative, she is authentic and gritty. She writes for an American audience, with references to the GOP (the Grand Old Party, or Republicans) but is easy to read – though this will not be easy reading for those accustomed to sticking with one particular tribe, in politics or in the church. If you’ve ever had doubts about evangelicals supporting Trump, French asks some of the questions you’ve probably pondered: “Why was the party of ‘family values’ rallying behind the guy who made a Playboy cameo?”
French provides a window onto a world that has been changing – from a place where political peers could disagree but still personally support one another, to a jungle where everyone just jumped onto what she calls the “Trump train”. Many apparently told her choosing Trump was the “lesser of two evils”. French paraphrased Spurgeon in response, saying she would “choose neither”. Her decision led to the end of her ghostwriting career. She insightfully analyses the mess our political systems are in, describing an attempt to converse with those from the alt right, but noting that “when we tried to talk about a disagreement, we didn’t even have a set of shared facts on which to build”.
After her personal experience of abuse, French went on to investigate and break the story of abuse at the Kanakuk Kamps, some of the largest American evangelical summer camps. She discovered NDAs and the defence that the camps had “done so much good”. This book is a powerful reminder that life, and politics, are messy and complicated, but is written in a vulnerable way that tugs on your heartstrings. For those of us prone to staying in our ‘tribes’, theological or political, it is food for thought.
