Media release: Kemi's Journal, feature by Lin Ball, Scripture Union Bible Resources Editor

So we all know that Bridget Jones is alive and well and living just about anywhere in the UK. But can she also be found in the church?

If the current upsurge of interest in Christian chick lit is any indicator, it seems that the answer is a resounding ‘yes’!

Because, says writer Abidemi Sanusi – herself a committed Pentecostal believer – churchgoers aren’t immune to the sexual pressures of today’s society.

Christian publishers Scripture Union, based in Milton Keynes, have taken on Abidemi’s first novel – in which a young newly-believing professional not only finds herself giving in to the temptation to sleep with her former partner, but then gets pregnant and books herself into an abortion clinic.

Author Abidemi (29), born in Lagos, Nigeria, into a Muslim family, was educated in the UK at boarding schools in Sussex and Oxfordshire, and then at Leeds University. She became a Christian in 1999 and it’s her vibrant faith that has led her both to become a human rights worker and to write.

‘Writing gives me the freedom to explore the issues I come across in my nine-to-five life,’ explains Abidemi.

‘With Kemi’s Journal, I wanted to write a real book that deals with the real issues out there. I wanted to puncture some myths – for example that non-Christians aren’t good people and that Christians are always good. We are always being shocked by stories of vicars being caught out in sexual or financial sin and we wonder, how can that happen to a good person?

‘Kemi’s story shows what happens when we leave God out of our lives, when we get our priorities mixed up. But it’s a story that shows there is always, always a way back. No matter what we do, our God is always waiting for us to turn back to him for forgiveness.

‘I also wanted to write a love story that was funny, that was a good read, that had strong characters people could identify with.’

The novel stars Kemi, a 20-something advertising professional, enjoying her new-found faith and recording her desire to follow Jesus in her journal along with her daily Bible verses. Everything goes with a swing – but when Kemi’s life hits a couple of hiccoughs, she finds the comfort of her previous long-term boyfriend just too attractive. At a time of vulnerability, she sleeps with attractive young lawyer Zack – and then is horrified to discover that she is pregnant. Her life is thrown into turmoil. She cannot believe she will be anything but judged by her church friends – the ‘Sanctifieds’ as she calls them. And she’s not sure God will forgive her, either. Desperate to do well in her career, she finds herself contemplating abortion.

Abidemi is concerned about the tremendously increasing pressures on young people to be sexually promiscuous, and that’s a thread running through Kemi’s Journal.

‘We are continually having to make tough choices. I travel a lot and find I am facing these pressures all the time. Do I want to go God’s way or my way?’

Kemi’s Journal, says Abidemi, is not just a book for women.

‘I am very interested in how men are affected by issues such as abortion. We are usually so busy focusing on women in these situations. It’s refreshing to take a look at the male perspective. Before writing the book I did a lot of research, speaking to many men on abortion issues. Almost all said they didn’t agree with abortion but were afraid of speaking out because it’s not politically correct; they’ve been told that it’s the woman’s right to choose. I heard about one man who was in his fifties – yet still distressed about missing out on fathering the child his girlfriend had aborted decades before.

‘I want the book to impact people for good, encouraging them to turn to God in the midst of their pressured lives, and to have the courage to stand up for what they believe in.’

‘Fiction has the power to address real issues in very powerful and even humorous ways,’ says Scripture Union editor Lin Ball. ‘In her book Abidemi gives insights of real honesty into the kinds of difficult dilemmas that are happening not just in society at large but in our churches. It’s a story about families and friends, about dreams and setbacks. Ultimately, it’s a story of the wonderful grace of God.

‘Christian fiction for adults doesn’t have a strong platform in the UK. Much of what we see in the shops is from the US and, for UK taste, is often considered saccharine and trite. I believe many UK readers will welcome and identify with bold fiction like Kemi’s Journal that is rooted in real experience.’

Kemi’s Journal of Life, Love and Everything by Abidemi Sanusi is published by Scripture Union at £6.99. It’s available from Christian bookshops and from Scripture Union Mail Order – tel 0845 0706006. There are book launches at Watersprings Bookshop, Enfield, London on Saturday January 15, 3-5pm, and at Ottakar’s Bookstore, Central Milton Keynes, February 2, from 6.30pm.

See also: Biographical details on Abidemi Sanusi, Background information, Kemi's Journal description and ordering details.