From this piece that came up, it doesn't sound like the author was into xian lit, it sounds like it was simply meant to be historical fiction:
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/an-immortality-of-words-annamanda-published-after-authors-death-264381081.html
<snip>
But Annamanda also is a tale of the determination of Jo Haring's family to see that the book got published, 21 years after her death. It is her second published novel—The Founding Father was published in 1984, and thousands of copies were sold internationally. A collection of her humorous writings, Notes on the Refrigerator Door, was published shortly after her death in 1993.
<snip>
Jo Haring began writing humorous pieces for The Associated Press. That led to her newspaper column, Pocketful of Wry, and, after she relocated to Tulsa in 1975, to novels. She completed Annamanda while coping with leukemia. But after her death from that disease her agent and potential publishers lost interest. To get it published was a struggle for Jo's husband, Bob, and son, Robert.
I was unable to find any information about her other novel,
The Founding Father. It's probably out of print. I thought it might give a clue as to the author's mindset - oh well.
My guess, fwiw, is that
Annamanda is not xian lit. Not one of the enthusiastic reviews on Amazon made any mention of there being any kind of xian message, they all praised it as a wonderful historical novel.
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