NANCY FRENCH. Ghosted: An American Story. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Books, 2024. Pp. 269. $29.99 (U.S.)
Nancy French served as a ghostwriter for conservative political leaders, including five books that made the New York Times best seller list. In Ghosted: An American Story, she candidly tells her own story of evolving from a conservative religious background as a staunch Republican supporter to questioning Donald Trump’s fitness for office when he bragged about his sexual treatment of women.
As her story unfolds, it becomes apparent that this response was triggered by her youth pastor sexually abusing her at age twelve and asking her to keep it a secret. Later she felt guilty for not speaking up, paving the way for him to continue with many more victims.
In 2012, Nancy’s husband David, a Harvard-educated religious rights attorney and columnist, received the prestigious Ronald Reagan Award at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). However, as the political climate shifted, he and Nancy found themselves at odds with their own community.
As Republicans, they had always believed that “character counts’ and felt a need to deal with that honestly when Trump was nominated. Trump had bragged about doing to women what the preacher had done to her. They felt that the “religious right” had abandoned “family values” with the “lesser of two evils” myth. David’s expressed views led to him being recruited to run as an independent candidate for President in 2016, giving an alternative to Trump and Clinton, which David ultimately declined after careful consideration.
When asked why she didn’t support Trump, Nancy responded, “I’m too conservative to support him” (208). Nancy still kept prior commitments with her conservative clients, though they were wary of her changing views, and many of their futures were interwoven with Trump’s success. When she needed to attend a MAGA rally while writing a book for a client, she found its atmosphere was the energy of hatred. Violence felt like it would erupt at any time, and someone in line to enter demanded to be able to take a gun into the rally, citing the Second Amendment.
When Nancy took a stance against Trump, political clients who previously respected her opinion and enjoyed back-and-forth dialogue, now resented her talking points and softening of their forceful rhetoric. Soon they all quit her ghostwriting projects or fired her.
Republicans mocked her multiracial family after they adopted a two-year-old girl from Ethiopia. They were targeted by White nationalists and MAGA supporters with disturbing sexually-charged accusations and claims that they were “raising the enemy.” The alt right photoshopped pictures of their adopted daughter in a gas chamber. Their family was also alienated from many in their church community.
Nancy observed that people from different political parties loathed one another. She realized that she had formerly been looking for the worst of Democrats and elevated those issues, even though the outliers can’t possibly represent the whole of a political party (159).
In the next phase of her life, Nancy investigated systemic sexual abuse at the Kanakuk Christian summer camps for children. Initially it was driven by a righteous fury, and it ended in a grievous lament. She realized that her job wasn’t to achieve justice; only God has the power to do that. Her job was to demonstrate love to the victims by listening to their stories, telling them it wasn’t their fault, they didn’t deserve it, they did nothing wrong, and that she believes in them.
Nancy reflects that her childhood church in the foothills of the Appalachians held concealed carry classes, and many of the little old ladies carried pistols in their purses on Sunday morning. Yet the church did not hold someone responsible for sexual abuse, alert authorities, notify the congregation, or help victims overcome the trauma of abuse. The senior pastor focused on redemption, forgiveness, and positive change—only “redemptive” stories could be told, and everything else was squelched.
These memoirs were published in April 2024 during the months leading up to an election where Donald Trump is again running for President of the United States. Some Brethren in Christ voters resonate with the Frenches’ views, while others see Trump as furthering their values despite his character. A Brethren in Christ church in my local area is using a Sunday school series to help members with differing views listen to and understand each other. My church is offering the six-week course “The After Party: Towards Better Christian Politics” on Monday evenings and a Sunday morning sermon series on “Jesus, Justice & the Third Way: Following the Lamb in an Age of Idolatry and Division.” We are reminded as Christians to not give our allegiance primarily to a tribe, a political party, or a group other than the church of Jesus Christ. In our previous sermon series on Paul’s letter to the Philippians, we were encouraged to live with attitudes of humility and as citizens of heaven on the earth, being one in the Lord.
I found Nancy French’s memoirs to be compelling, honest (including incidents in her life where she admits lying), insightful, and inspiring. I would have liked to learn more about her father’s Native American roots and its impact on her upbringing. Nevertheless, I was impressed by the intellectual and emotional support she received from her husband when deciding how to handle sensitive situations and communications widely broadcasted in the news media.
Nancy ends her memoirs reflecting on how God directed her steps, even through her earlier years of questioning her faith. She states, “As much as I wrestled with God and tried to ignore him, he showed up and occasionally took my breath away. . . . Throughout my life, God ‘ghosted’ me, and being ‘Holy-Ghosted’ is a much different experience altogether. Instead of shoving me away, God brought me in” (262). Her remarkable story deserves to be told and gives much cause for reflection.