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September 18, 2024 By D'Ann Mateer

Because I am always reading more than one novel at a time, I often notice book similarities. It is not unusual for me to discover that the main character in one current read is named the same as a supporting character in another! But recently I ran across a book similarity that initially took me aback, and I wanted to discuss it here. 

The truth is, there are only so many stories to be told. As Ecclesiastes 1:9 tells us, “There is nothing new under the sun.” So many authors or to-be authors get freaked out at this point, terrified they’ll write the same story as someone else or someone else will write their story. 

I long ago learned that while two stories might have similar bones, they will never be identical. (Unless there is plagiarism of course, but I’m not talking about that.)

A few weeks ago I started listening to All My Secrets by Lynn Austin. It’s a story set in 1898/1899 New York. There are three POVS, three generations of woman—grandmother, mother, daughter. There are secrets. Secrets the daughter must learn from both her mother and grandmother in order to make sense of her life and of the women who love her. 

A little while later I picked up The Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery by Amanda Cox. It’s a story set in present-day small-town Tennessee. There are three POVs, three generations of women—grandmother, mother, daughter. There are secrets. Secrets the daughter must learn from both her mother and grandmother in order to make sense of her life and of the women who love her. 

Crazy, right? While at the beginning of each book, the similarities were startling. And yet, knowing what I know of publishing timelines, the 2 1/2 years between these book releases means that both stories were likely in progress—at least in conception—on overlapping timelines. 

In spite of it all, I continued to read both books. Although one big secret was the same in both books, the results were quite different. Other secrets were not the same. And the century or so separating the two stories resulted in differences as well. As did the social/financial status of the two families. And their geographic locations. 

But even if more of those distrinctions had been similarities, these two stories would never be the same. Why? Because they had two different authors. Authors of different generations and backgrounds and experiences. These two stories seemed to be so similar—and yet they were so very different. 

Years ago, back when I first started attending writing conferences, I heard about a book called What the Wind Picked Up. The subtitle of this book–Proof that a Single Idea Can Launch a Thousand Stories–sums up this exact point. Each author wrote from the same basic idea, yet the stories are all different.

Because each writer is unique, each story will be unique in some form of its presentation. So if you are a writer, no need to worry that your story and someone else’s will be the “same.” And for readers, even if you see similarities between books, take heart! They will not be the same story. 

Have similarities between the situation or plot or characters of two novels ever jarred you? Did it put you off one, or did you read both? 

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D'Ann Mateer

Inspired by novelist Eugenia Price, D’Ann’s dream of writing historical fiction with an element of faith began in middle school, though her serious drive toward publication took a bit longer. D’Ann is the author of four historical novels and one novella, as well as a contemporary short stories in a compilation volume. D’Ann and her husband of 30 years can be found in Austin, TX when they aren’t touring historic sites or visiting their grown children.

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Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Amanda Cox, Lynn Austin

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Comments

  1. Joy says

    September 18, 2024 at 5:55 am

    I just recently listened to All My Secrets and have The Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery on my TBR. By the time I get to Amanda’s I wonder if I’ll have that moment of wondering if I’ve already read it. LOL

    • D'Ann Mateer says

      September 18, 2024 at 8:22 am

      LOL! You might at the beginning when it’s being set up! I really enjoyed them both in their differences, it just was just kind of weird reading them at the same time!

  2. Karen Witemeyer says

    September 18, 2024 at 9:17 am

    There truly is nothing new under the sun, is there? That’s part of why I’m having so much fun with my western fairy tale series. You can definitely sense that these books were inspired by Disney’s version of classic fairy tales, and there are plenty off nods to those movies, yet the stories themselves are so very different.

    Isn’t it amazing that God made each of us with imaginations that are completely unique even as they tie in to universal truths? Infinite creation possibilities.

    • D'Ann Mateer says

      September 18, 2024 at 2:45 pm

      Yes! I love that all of us think a little differently and yet we all display the many facets of God’s truth and His imaginations!

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