It reshaped her perspective and triggered her journey of “deconstructing things once thought were true.”Īfter reading the article, Thomas recognized the timeliness of the events it chronicled. This reminded the author of the stories she grew up hearing-specifically one about a group of Christian missionaries in 1956 who entered a rainforest in Ecuador to evangelize the Waorani, a group of people indigenous to the area. Specifically, the piece discussed a class action lawsuit against Chevron for failing to maintain environmental standards in Ecuador. Then in 2012, she read a New Yorker article about the politics of oil. “It was a celebrated chain of events in the church where I was growing up the women were unanimous in believing it was God’s will.”ĭecades later, Thomas moved away from her religious upbringing. Thomas reflects on the reputation of these missionaries who were celebrated and honoured as an example of a good evangelical Christian. There would be missionary conferences and people were encouraged to become missionaries to take the place of the men who had died.”

“The whole chain of events, the death of the five men, was very much enshrined in evangelical churches in the 1960s and 1970s,” Thomas said.

Thomas had these books in her home when she was growing up. Her name is Elizabeth Elliot, and she was a writer who discussed various incidents of missionary men dying. One of the people the author details is a woman she’s been familiar with since she was a little girl. Her book follows five missionary wives whose husbands die while ‘on duty.’ While the women are based on real people, her book is a fictionalized account of the experience. She spoke with The Journal about her experience writing the book and where her inspiration came from. Thomas’ novel Five Wives is a recent winner of the Governor-General Literary Award. Author Joan Thomas’ award-winning novel challenges the lessons she was taught as a child.

Five wives by joan thomas