Diana Wallis Taylor Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Collections

Publication Order of Ordinary Women of the Bible Books

Diana Wallis is a fiction writer whose first novel was published at 12 after selling a poem to a church newspaper. She received her B.A. in Elementary Education at San Diego State University.

The author worked as an elementary school teacher for 22 years. She has published many articles and contributed stories to books such as Mom Overboard and Growing Old Ain’t for Wimps. She won the San Diego Book Awards for Phipps and the Jay short story. Smoke Before Wind won the first place in Christian Romance novels while the House of Forest manuscript won the first place in Christian fiction.

Journey to the Well
It’s a journey of Marah, the Samaritan lady in the Bible who met Jesus at Jacob’s well. It’s a fictional account of the story about the episode in John’s gospel. When the author first introduces her, she’s an orphan and a young girl transitioning to a woman. Marah is thirteen years old and has just started thinking about her love and marriage life. However, life doesn’t go as planned, especially when one is an orphan with no one to guide them through life.
It’s so hard to live in a society where all marriages are planned and the bride or groom has no say in it. She hopes that Jesse, a young shepherd boy, will become her husband one day. However, Reba, her kinswoman, has a different choice named Zibeon, a sandal maker who is said to have a bad temper.

Marah goes back home to find out that the arranged husband is a lot older, which stresses her much. Even though she isn’t willing to be his wife, there is no choice in this kind of matter, and she has to marry him by force. She doesn’t like how her suitor wants to fulfill his benefactor’s greedy coffers. After being forced into a world of misery with her series of husbands, she’s separated from her childhood friend and sweetheart Jesse.

Life doesn’t have much kindness for Marah as she goes through grief, loss, and frequent spouses until she visits Jacob’s well. Why would a woman have five husbands? The novel displays the writer’s creative mind and her take on the journey of the Samaritan woman to the well.

At the well, when Jesus asks for water to drink, Marah is hesitant after seeing that he is a Jew and she is a Samaritan lady, which wasn’t considered right. From the simple conversation comes the reality that Jesus revealed Himself to this ordinary lady and offered her everlasting water. She is so amazed and leaves the well to inform the other people that the Messiah was at the well. From the Bible story, Diana Willis creates a detailed backstory.

The novel is so compelling, and Marah’s story is tragic and redemptive at the same time. The author gives interesting information about the lives and traditions of Samaritans. There is much more to the Samaritan woman than Jesus said at the well. She had a history and fit her name, Marah, which means bitter. She wasn’t heartless but a wounded woman who needed to be loved right.

Journey to the Well novel shows the history of her life that led to her meeting Jesus. It’s a well-written fictional novel about a biblical story that will draw you in the right from the beginning. It’s narrated from the view of Marah, who is thrown from one tragic situation to another. She tried her best to think positively in negative cases, only for another worse situation to find her. Because of these situations, she goes to the well where she meets Jesus, who has the power to transform her life.

It’s a familiar story to most Christians worldwide, but it isn’t told the same way in the novel. The story is more of shame, rejection, and hope that Jesus Christ brings.

Martha
The novel is a story about Martha from the Bible, who was Mary and Lazarus’s sister. In the scriptures, Martha is said to be the older among the three and the strict one who is more concerned with how things appear to the messiah than attending to the messiah himself. How did her life unfold to place her in that position? Diana Taylor has beautifully described the lifestyles and times of the Jews, pointing out the need for a stable family despite the unpredicted life challenges.

In the story, the author points out Martha’s hopes, desires, and dreams. In Bethany, she lived with her father, Ephraim, and siblings, and siblings, and Mary and Lazarus. As the story opens, she is a young girl whose mother passed away and left her to take over the role of a mother in the household and raise her siblings.

Earlier, her father had offered Martha a good young man to marry, but she wonders if she’ll ever get married when the man marries another lady. She learned much and led her family through the Jewish prayers, rituals, and holidays. Her brother Lazarus is friends with Jesus, Martha is ready to host him with his disciples.
With all the duties Martha performs, can she ever find time or happiness in her life? When everyone’s needs around her are met by Martha, who will be there to meet her own needs?
Martha is depicted as smart, loyal, loving, and strong in the way she ran the home after the death of her parents. Even after undergoing a lot of pain and loss, she comforted those who surrounded her. Lazarus’ death was narrated in a way that seemed so real and believable.

After the failed marriage plan, Martha came up with the idea that she would be a maid as the years passed. Diana Wallis Taylor did a marvelous job with the biblical information as she added to the story bringing Martha to life. It was so easy to relate to anything going on in her life.

It’s so refreshing how the author blends the Bible scripture and fiction to bring forth a beautiful story about Martha and her family to her readers. The best part of the novel is where Jesus’s life intertwines with Lazarus, Martha, and Mary.

Diana seems to have done extensive research while writing the novel. She unveiled the woman within the Bible with lush descriptions and imagined and dialogue of Martha’s world, the trials, triumphs, and love that came to her life. Be ready to navigate the complicated worlds of faith, love, and family.