Book Club: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year By Beth Moran

This month I’m reading… 

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

By Beth Moran (Boldwood Books, 978-1836334736)

This is a feel-good, Christmassy read with a heart-warming message about the power of community, friendship and learning to open our hearts to others. With a nod to the Christmas story, we first meet the main character, Mary, when she is heavily pregnant. Once part of a successful fashion accessories company, after a falling out with the other two founders, she has left and found a new home deep in Sherwood Forest. All alone (her family is somewhat dysfunctional and we find out what happened to the father of her child later) she calls a taxi when it is time to give birth and that is when she meets Beckett, the driver who will change her life. Dependable and patient, he offers her friendship and an invitation to a tight-knit community that she finds herself opening up to, despite herself. When she offers to help with costumes for the Christmas carol concert the local church is putting on, she takes on more than she can cope with but the women she has met all rally around her – and teach her what it means to truly belong. 

You began writing books under a Christian fiction imprint, but are now with Boldwood Books – why did you move, and what impact has that had to your reach with both Christians and those without faith?

A Christian publisher meant my books weren’t reaching a mainstream readership. However, some US Christian reviewers found my books not ‘Christian’ enough, as they don’t fit the Christian fiction genre. Moving to Boldwood Books has meant a lot more people can discover my books. I receive a lot of messages from Christians who say they appreciate the lack of blasphemy and sex scenes, but at the same time can recommend my books to a friend, knowing they aren’t preachy or full of church jargon. I’ve had only one or two negative comments about my books featuring a church (most of the books don’t), and many reviews where people say they felt inspired to become part of a similar community. 

Because my faith is the heart of who I am, this is inevitably reflected in my books. I take inspiration from Jesus, whose timeless stories rarely mention ‘God’, but speak of a father, a shepherd, a king etc. For those who choose to dig deeper, there is incredible treasure to be found. God has promised us that his great story has a happy ever after. All of us with eternity in our hearts long for this, so we love reading stories that reflect this truth. 

I pray a lot about how to honourably portray issues like intimacy in relationships or swearing. The first time I felt God wanted to me to write about divorce, I wondered what some Christian readers might think. However, God spoke to me about Christians who needed reassurance that they don’t need to carry shame or stigma about these things. 

You are quite a prolific writer. Where did the idea for this latest book come from?

This book started with a picture in my head of a young mother using a taxi, and the driver reaching out to her when he realises she has no one else to help. I knew the story was about two desperately lonely people pushing beyond their fears and connecting with each other. It then seemed like the mum giving birth in the taxi was an obvious place to start, and I went from there! I was contracted to write a Christmas book, so included lots of festive fun, too. 

Mary comes from such a different place to where she ends up. It feels like you deliberately stripped so much away from her, in order to reveal to her – and us as readers – the things that are truly important. Is that a fair summary?

Absolutely. I wanted to contrast the kind of life Mary believed was ‘successful’ – whether defined by what her parents, her friends, wider society or her own inner voice told her that was – with Beckett choosing what really mattered to him, and her discovery of what is actually important to her. 

Mary joins a ‘coffee mums’ group that is full of really diverse but ‘real’ women, from all backgrounds and circumstances. How important to you was showing such friendships among women?

I’m a huge believer in the power of community. I think many of the issues we face as a society are because people no longer participate in each other’s lives like we used to. We have prized independence but the side-effect has often been isolation. Throughout history, in every culture, women have done things together – birth, death and everything in between. I think it’s so much harder for people to flourish when they are struggling to raise children behind closed doors or coming home from work to eat alone every night. I hope the Church provides part of the answer to that. This includes creating safe spaces to be honest about who we are, and how we’re doing. I receive lots of comments about how my books inspire people to seek out authentic, healthy friendships. 

Both Beckett and Mary are drawn into the church community through its hospitality and lack of judgement – was that portrayal of church something you wanted to get across to mainstream readers, as the Church often has such a bad press?

I’ve loved local church my whole life and was in leadership for 13 years before stepping down to focus on fostering. Honestly, I write about church as I’ve experienced it. I enjoy sharing a different image of church to the one some people might have in their heads, but I hope that for many Christians, this is an accurate one. When the children we foster come to church, they are blown away by the welcome and acceptance. For some, it has been the first place they’ve felt safe to be themselves (a big contrast to school!). I would love it if after reading my book, when someone then gets an invitation to a church toddler group, youth group or carol service, they might find it easier to say “Yes”.

It takes time for the characters (and us) to learn more about each one’s stories – could you give us a glimpse into why you chose that approach? 

It’s human nature to make snap judgements about people. We can all assume someone has a great life and feel intimidated by the way they present themselves, despite everyone facing challenges to some extent. I’ve learned as a foster carer that the difficult behaviour we see in others can be easier to understand when we know their story. A key question is “What happened to you?” rather than “What’s wrong with you?”. Also, it’s a much more interesting book if we don’t know everything from the start! 

You have become an incredibly successful, bestselling author – how have you handled that?

Thank you! I learned well before becoming a bestselling author that my worth is not in what I do. ‘Success’ to me means doing what God told me to do, as best I can. The rest is up to him. I know all my success as an author is down to God; it could stop tomorrow and that would be OK. For me, a number one bestseller meant I could fund a loft conversion and foster more children, which is genuinely life-changing work with lasting impact. When every day involves supporting traumatised young people through the aftermath of abuse and neglect, it puts book sales in their rightful place. Having said that, God did need to remind me to enjoy it when people read my books. I’m a strong believer in the biblical principle of celebration, and testifying to the favour of God in our lives! 

Beth Moran on: The books that have changed my life

Henry’s Sisters by Cathy Lamb 

Cathy Lamb is one of my favourite authors. Long before I ever considered writing fiction, I discovered her books and thought: “If I ever wrote, I’d want it to be like this.” She balances laughter and tragedy, humour and heartbreak in a way that brilliantly reflects how tough yet ultimately beautiful life can be. I hope I manage to do the same. 

Present over Perfect  by Shauna Niequist 

I was raised in the generation of young women who were told we could have it all, the problem being that meant we had to do it all. I spent many years hustling to cram in as many worthwhile activities as possible. It was a long, winding road that led me to accepting the value in stillness, and rest. This book came along at just the right time to help put my determination to slow down into context. It is utterly impossible to be creative while rushing through life, so this was crucial in my author journey. 

Keep Your Love On by Danny Silk

I’ve bought this book several times because I keep giving it away. Danny Silk was a foster carer and social worker as well as church leader, so he understands loving when it’s tough. This book has been invaluable to me as a mother, foster carer, church leader and friend. At the end of the day life, and my books, are all about relationships, and I learned so much from Danny’s wisdom. It definitely helped my characters figure some things out!