In this episode, Josh McNall interviews Dalene Fisher about fiction, faith, and female agency.

Dalene Fisher (PhD, Kent) is Assistant Provost and Dean of Arts and Sciences at Oklahoma Wesleyan University.

Her new book (Resisting the Marriage Plot) explores the work of four beloved female novelists: Jane Austen, Anne Brontë, Elizabeth Gaskell, and Mary Wollstonecraft. Each of these authors appealed to the Christian faith through their heroines to challenge cultural expectations regarding women, especially in terms of marriage. Although Christianity has all too often been distorted to oppress women, Fisher demonstrates that in the hands of these novelists and through the actions of their characters, it could also be a transformative force to liberate women.