Daphne Woods
Daphne Woods (born 1956) is an author of conservative literary fiction.
Philosophy and Religion
Daphne Woods was born into a Christian family that espoused fundamentalism as its primary religious and political philosophy. After leaving home to attend college, Woods' views expanded and became more aligned to mainstream evangelicalism; however, she never varied from her core conservative beliefs.
Literary Outlook and Style
Woods was always attracted to the prose style and moral, religious, and cultural values reflected in the writers of nineteenth century England; a representative list of such authors includes Charlotte Brontë, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and George Eliot. In order to have an opportunity to study these writers in depth, as well as the historical and philosophical context in which they wrote, Woods obtained her PhD. in Nineteenth century Studies, with a concentration in English Literature, from Drew University, Madison, NJ, in 1991.
Woods' self-identified mission is to supply the twenty-first century with literary fiction of the same quality, style, and values as the great nineteenth century authors, but in a contemporary setting. Her writing style has been called "fast paced", "gripping", "uplifting", and "entertaining".
Woods herself says, "While I can never hope to compare with those extraordinary geniuses of the past, and I do not try to model my writing style on any of them, I hope, like Dickens, Eliot, and Brontë, to embed an exploration of social and cultural issues in a great narrative."[1]
Fiction
Woods' first novel, Meggie Brooks,[2] is a late twentieth century coming-of-age novel about a girl growing up in a conservative Christian home and encountering conflicts between her views and the American culture in which she lives.
Woods' second novel is not yet available. The Redemption of Father Drew, set in the context of the drug-related violence along the Mexican-American border, explores the politics of illegal immigration and drug legalization, along with related moral and religious controversies.
Both novels include romantic themes, yet are properly categorized not as part of the romance genre, where the romance is the primary focus of the story, but rather, because of multiple complex, interwoven themes, as literary fiction.
