CR spoke with author Hannah MacFarlane

Hannah MacFarlane

In 2010 almost two thirds of the books that were borrowed from libraries were crime or thrillers. With commentators suggesting that this shows a stunning appetite for evil in the average reader, there's a new generation of Christian writers trying to respond to this trend and engage a younger audience. Scripture Union is working with a number of writers on their Dark Chapters series and Rebecca Duffett spent some time with Hannah MacFarlane, author of The Egyptian Nightmare.

The Egyptian Nightmare focuses on the Pharaoh and his son, as they experience each plague. We see Pharaoh's relationship with Moses and Aaron veer wildly from anger to pride to shame to defiance. Through the character of Ibiya, Pharaoh's son and heir, the reader is able to address the tough questions of the story.

Rebecca: Please could you give us an overview of the book and how it's different to other versions of what is otherwise quite a well-known biblical story?

Hannah: The Egyptian Nightmare is a re-telling of the plagues narrative from the Bible. It looks at the 10 plagues of Egypt, why God sent them and what the result was. It's aimed at teenagers and I've tried to make it quite a fast paced read. It's different people's point of view on the story. I think it's different because I try not to be afraid or shy away from the more difficult questions of God's character and the darker aspects of the story.

Rebecca: What made you want to write quite a lot of the story from the point of view of Pharaoh's son?

Hannah: I was really interested in the relationship between Pharaoh and his son. Obviously we know that in the tenth plague the first born all die. It was a really interesting way for me to get to know Pharaoh and what his character was like and what drove him to respond in the way he did to God through his relationship with his son and how they related to one another.

Rebecca: You don't shy away from being quite graphic and descriptive about what a dark time Egypt was in. Why did you decide to make it such a dark book?

Hannah: I think if you go into any book shop at the moment and look at the children's and teenage books particularly, there's a lot of very dark material out there. I was reading an article just last week in the Guardian about the books that have been borrowed from the library in 2010. The guy in there said that what it showed was the stunning appetite for evil. Almost two thirds of the books that were borrowed were crime or thrillers. So in order to engage today's audience I think it's really important not to shy away from those things. What we're doing in the Dark Chapter series and in this book is trying to use that to ask questions about God's character.

Rebecca: What would some of those questions be?

Hannah: Things like, what is God like and why would he do this to a country? Why would he send these plagues of frogs and blood and hail and basically destroy the entire civilisation? What would drive him to do that and why are the people of Israel so important to him?

Rebecca: Do you think that books like this will help young people get into their Bibles where otherwise they might struggle a bit?

Hannah: I think so. I think what I've really tried to do is look very closely at the Bible text and just read what's there. I think it's so easy when you're reading the Bible to just skip over things and to skim read; for example, where it talks about the plague of frogs, the Bible actually does tell us the frogs are in the beds and in the ovens. It tells us that when they die, they had to be piled up in heaps and they made the whole land foul and rotten. I think sometimes it's so easy to read that and just almost ignore it. What I've tried to do is really bring that to life.

Rebecca: What part of God's character did you want to show through the book?

Hannah: His love and care for his own people. I think what surprised me most when I was writing, was that it is so easy to look at the plagues narrative and see God as angry and vindictive; but what really struck me as I researched was just how many chances he gave Pharaoh and that he would give him the benefit of the doubt time and time again and give him chance after chance to change and respond in the correct way. Each time it was just that the consequence became a little more severe when Pharaoh didn't respond to God.

You can buy The Egyptian Nightmare and the other Dark Chapters books for only £5.69 from Cross Rhythms Direct.