Bringing light to a dark subject

Lydia Jenkins was made redundant from her dream job early in her career. She tells James Hastings how it led her to writing novels that bring Christianity to dystopian thinking.

It was when she was made redundant from her dream job that Lydia Jenkins realised she had been living a nightmare.

Fresh out of university, Lydia, then 23, worked in marketing for a company supplying luxury appliances to private yacht builders and other high-end businesses. She travelled the world in a fast-pace environment where money was no object and the rewards were high.

But her exciting lifestyle suddenly came to a shattering end when Lydia was made redundant. “It was a weird experience, not least because I was so young and had just started my career,” she explains.

“I went from full-time work to a full-time stop. As I reflected on it all, I began to dislike what I saw. I realised I had built my identity around my job. I had a very unhealthy relationship with work and it reflected who I was.

“Now I was redundant, and society sees you as a very different person – no longer the successful person living a glamorous life with a glamorous job. Suddenly, you are regarded as less valid.”

Lydia, now 28 , who serves on the Leadership Team at York Elim, spent a month pondering her past and wondering about her future.

“Of course, I asked where was God in all of this,” she says. “I spent a lot of time in prayer. I began to see God was helping me to understand I needed to question where my treasure lay. He did not cause me to be made redundant, but he allowed it.” Lydia had graduated with a degree in English and Foreign Literature from York University. She had long been an avid reader who was “always reading something”. Her favourite genre was dystopian novels and she began to wonder whether she could write one herself?

While George Orwell’s 1984 and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World remain among the best known dystopian books, there has been a glut of titles in recent years, many of which have jumped from the written page to our TV and film screens. Today, millions of viewers are glued to hit dramas such as A Handmaid’s Tale, the Walking Dead and Black Mirror.

With dystopia often described as an imaginary place or condition in which everything is as bad as possible, it might not be regarded by many Christians as their first choice for a quiet read, but Lydia insists it is “important to keep an open mind”. “When Christians question whether they should read the genre, I ask them if they think the same about Lord of the Rings or The Chronicles of Narnia?

“I want to bring Christianity to dystopian thinking. It is a perfect avenue to bring in light so there’s no need for Christians to be afraid.

“I was inspired by my experience of redundancy and the few first years of my working life, as well as my faith to write my first novel, Crowned Worthy. I never thought I was a writer, but God gave me a passion for it when I was made redundant. I write dystopian stories to remind readers what really matters. Diving into my dystopian worlds brings me so much joy, but I also love to focus on how those stories will positively impact people who read them.”

In between writing, Lydia continues her ministry serving on the leadership team at York Elim: “As well as working part-time on the staff team. I’m responsible for some pastoral care, administration, and media activity, as well as organising various events such as women’s coffee mornings and a summer book club. In fact, any chance to get reading into my ministry – like a true bookworm!”

Crowned Worthy (now republished as Sun of Endless Days) was Lydia’s first novel and draws on her own experience of work, and how society values those who do – and those who don’t.

“The story is based in the fictional Tulo City where progress is strength and citizens take drugs to skip sleep and gain merit points,” she says.

“The main character, Ajay Ambers, has a high merit score and aims to live in the Glorified Quarters, the highest faction of Tuloian society. But Genni, his girlfriend, can’t keep up and risks becoming Unworthy, something she’ll do anything to avoid.

“However, Ajay and Genni can’t see all the players in the game, and before long those players are ready to turn their worlds upside down. With the city shaken, and secrets at every turn, Ajay and Genni struggle to keep their love alive in a place where only the Worthy are rewarded.”

The success of Crowned Worthy meant Lydia was soon working on a follow-up. And in November, the third novel, Quiet Echoes at Night, will hit the bookshelves.

Lydia is reluctant to reveal too much about the final book in the popular series and will only say fans of the previous books will be in for “a few surprises”.

“Readers have been asking me questions such as where the story is set and that is something they might discover in the final book,” she hints.

“I have really enjoyed writing these novels and thank God for inspiring me and gently nudging me to write after my redundancy. I’m thinking and praying about what comes next and will wait to see where God leads me.”

This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.